Gillingham in a race against time to get players fit for weekend game at Cambridge United as boss Gareth Ainsworth seeks a response following 5-1 defeat to MK Dons

Gillingham will be desperately trying to get injured players back ahead of the weekend in a bid to avoid a repeat of Tuesday night’s calamity.

The Gills lost 5-1 to promotion-chasing MK Dons at home and are now preparing to visit Neil Harris’ in-form Cambridge United, a side sitting third in the League 2 table.

Harris was at Priestfield to watch his old side crumble in midweek - three goals down inside 33 minutes - and will be hoping his own side can also capitalise on Gillingham’s injury crisis.

The Gills have quickly gone from having most of their squad available to throwing on youth players, handing Michael Luxton his debut on Tuesday night after recalling him from a loan at Isthmian South East side Sheppey United.

Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth had nine first-team regulars missing in the week and those that stepped in couldn’t handle MK’s quality.

“Let's try and see if we can step up on Saturday,” said the Gills boss.

“We’ve got a big game at Cambridge on Saturday, and then we’ve got a big game back here against (fifth-placed) Swindon [on Tuesday]. Two very strong teams.

“Fair play to Neil Harris, he has done really well. Ex-manager here [at Gillingham], obviously, and he knows his way out [of the division].

“We’ve managed against each other and played against each other a lot, so a lot of respect for Neil and what his team does and then Swindon again, one of the big spenders in the league, and that’s going to be tough.

“We’ve got to step up. We can’t say we can’t win these games. We’ve got to find a way to break the level and raise our levels to compete with these teams, because otherwise we’re just going to be out of games, and we’ll get the same again.

“I didn’t like it [on Tuesday]. I’m sure the players