Gillingham beat Southampton 3-1 in the Carabao Cup as both sides make changes from opening league fixtures; Saints leave out Romeo Lavia, James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Tella

One look at the Southampton team on Tuesday night gave Gillingham the belief they could beat their higher-league opponents - and they did so in style.

The Championship visitors changed their starting XI completely from the one that had looked so good in their season opener days earlier at Sheffield Wednesday.

Harris “We should have won by more!”

Gillingham’s management team and players had sat watching Southampton’s game on Friday in their team hotel ahead of the game against Stockport. It had left them in awe.

But when the Saints boss Russell Martin decided it was all-change for the Carabao Cup, it was a massive relief to the Gills.

Gills manager Neil Harris said: “They had a great win on Friday night and I thought they were marvelous against Sheffield Wednesday, that made us extremely nervous for the game, but they made the changes.

“I understand why, and then I thought, ‘come on, we have a chance now, we can affect the game’ and I think the lads took some heart from the team-sheet and felt there were areas of the pitch we could exploit.”

Not surprisingly, the Saints didn’t include the likes of Romeo Lavia, James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Tella on Tuesday night. Sam Edozie was an unused sub and Carlos Alcaraz was introduced off the bench but it was definitely a weakened team.

It was still a side that massively under-performed infront of an big away following.

Southampton reached the semi-final of the competition last season.

Harris said: “They were still a top side but it couldn’t have gone any better, let’s be honest.

“The cup competitions aren’t the priority but it doesnt mean I don’t want to win.

“No disrespect, but I didn’t play Josh Chambers or Joe Gbode, and (I didn’t play) 18-19 year-olds because I wanted to