Gillingham 3 Southampton 1: Ashley Nadesan and Robbie McKenzie (2) score in Carabao Cup first-round cup shock at Priestfield

Gillingham’s recent love affair with the Carabao Cup continued on Tuesday night after knocking out Championship side Southampton.

Ashley Nadesan put Gills ahead during an impressive opening 45 minutes and Robbie McKenzie - who had a first-half effort disallowed - struck twice after the turnaround to leave the Gills in dreamland.

Carlos Alcaraz got one back for the Saints on 90 minutes ahead of seven nervy minutes of stoppage-time, but the Gills held on for a well-deserved 3-1 win.

The Gills reached the fourth round of the competition last season, knocking out Premier League Brentford along the way and enjoying a night out at Wolves.

League 2 Gillingham made five changes to the team which beat Stockport in their weekend match, starting with Nadesan upfront in a 4-5-1 formation, but they were the team on the front-foot early on.

The Saints changed their entire line-up from the one which kicked off the season with a win at Sheffield Wednesday.

The visitors came with a reputation for playing possession-based football but looked rattled early on at the back, resorting to hoofing balls clear at times. Jayden Clarke was a menace down the right but the opening goal came from the opposite flank.

Southampton lost possession and Dom Jefferies burst down the flank before sending in a cross for Nadesan, who finished with 12 minutes gone.

Prior to that Shad Ogie had headed a good chance over and Saints defender Romain Perraud almost found his own net with a nervy backpass.

Southampton raised their game after Gillingham got their opener but were mostly restricted to shots from the edge of the box that keeper Glenn Morris comfortably dealt with.

Sekou Mara did crash an effort off the bar with a rising shot after Ogie had made a block