Gillingham 3 Southampton 1: Manager Neil Harris reaction to Gills’ Carabao Cup first round victory at Priestfield

Gillingham manager Neil Harris felt his side’s Carabao Cup victory over Southampton could have been even more emphatic.

The Gills dominated the first half and were arguably even better in the second as they put three goals past a side who are being tipped for an immediate return to the Premier League this season.

Report: Gillingham 3 Southampton 1

While the Saints made 11 changes from their first game in the Championship on Friday, the Gills made five from the weekend, and it was Harris’ League 2 outfit who deservedly progressed to round two of the competition, winning 3-1.

Gillingham had the best of the chances all night, with the Saints getting a goal back on 90 minutes, and Harris said: “Let’s start with the negative, if we want to be really picky, it was a poor goal to concede.

“I said to the boys afterwards, first and foremost it was a great result and performance, but my disappointment was that the scoreline should have been greater.

“It should have been by more than two goals, we deserved more out of that.

“It was a fantastic performance, we made five changes to the starting XI and all five players made a contribution, all the subs came on and made a contribution and the best thing for me is that the team I picked for the weekend was excellent and the team I picked (against Southampton) was very good also.”

Robbie McKenzie scored twice in the second half after Ashley Nadesan had bagged a first-half opener. They were two of the five players brought into the XI following the weekend win at Stockport.

The Gills led 1-0 at the break but didn’t let up against their Championship opponents, who added star man after star man from the bench in a bid to get out of trouble.

“There was a moment in the second half where