Gillingham’s weekend game against Steve Evans’ Stevenage is sure to create some theatre but current boss Neil Harris won't be distracted.

Evans left the Gills in January after two and a half years in charge and was eventually replaced by Harris. The former manager returns to Priestfield this Saturday with his team sitting top of League 2.

Harris understands that there will be plenty of interest in the fixture, saying: “I get it, Steve’s coming back to the club he managed, it was one [fixture] he would have looked for at the start of the season, fans will get that excitement, that is part and parcel of football.

“Me and Steve have enough experience over the years to know it is just another game.

“It is an important game, we have had one defeat in eight (in all competitions), a little unbeaten run, scoring goals now and we want that to continue.

“My focus, our focus, will be purely on trying to get a result at the weekend.

“We know what we are going to face, it’s going to be completely different to Crewe away, Stevenage are very effective in what they do.

“I have watched their last couple of games, I know what we are going to face.

“(Stevenage) are an experienced team, a team with confidence and a little more direct in their approach. I am always respectful to every game, they are all challenges, it is down to us to stand up to that challenge and then express ourselves as well.”

Harris feels the division has settled into the haves and have-nots.

“You look at the top six sides, the biggest budgets in the league,” said the Gills boss.

“There is no surprise that the teams at the top are at the top, what we have to do on Saturday is make sure we stand up to the direct play and the athleticism of Stevenage and then use the ball much better than we did on Tuesday.”

Gillingham are set for a run of games against some of the higher-ranked teams in the division, with fixtures against Barrow (9th), Leyton Orient (2nd) and Doncaster (8th) coming up in the next few weeks.

“Every game at this level has different challenges,” Harris said.

“Crewe was a challenge because they kept the ball really well, they moved it around the pitch, Stevenage will be a slightly different challenge.”

What is pleasing Harris is that his side are making progress. They have lost just once in their last eight games in all competitions and goals are being scored again, having endured a barren opening to the season.

“Everyone can see it,” said Harris, after Tuesday’s EFL Trophy clash with Colchester. “We are getting better. It’s another step in the right direction and we showed that we can dig in when we have to and compete. We did have good moments but not enough for my liking.

“It is another game unbeaten, we are moving in the right direction and everybody can see that. I feel it, the players feel it.”