Gillingham manager Neil Harris on his defensive switch after Conor Masterson replaced Will Wright plus Oli Hawkins' rib injury

A clean sheet on Saturday was welcomed by a Gillingham manager who had a sleepless night over his defensive selection for the Crawley game.

Gills boss Neil Harris had named the same eleven for three successive League 2 matches before making a switch to his back-line, bringing in Conor Masterson for Will Wright at the heart of the defence.

Masterson recently returned to the club on loan from QPR, having enjoyed a good spell under Harris at the back end of last season. The Gills boss was keen to involve him again and felt now was the right time.

“It was a really tough call,” he said. “I have to be honest I didn’t sleep very well on Thursday night having to make that decision and I explained it to Wrighty, he knows it was really tough.

“I just felt that maybe we needed to be a bit more aggressive on the crosses if we are to play the way we are, whether it’s a four or a five (in defence). If we invite the ball around us and into the box then we have to make sure we defend crosses well.

“I feel that is one of Conor’s strengths and that is something we have to work really hard on with Will, the physical side of the game and I promised him we will.

“I think Will is going to be a top centre-half in this division and we have to keep physically improving him and improving his game-awareness.”

On the injury-front, the Gills boss was waiting on news of striker Oli Hawkins, as he picked up a rib injury on Saturday.

Harris said: “He got an elbow into the ribs, just as he was about to attack the ball. Dom Telford was very clever, centre-forward on centre-forward, he leant into him and it affected the ribs. We hope he is alright this week.”

Fellow striker Tom Nichols went down injured too but thankfully only with cramp.

Scott Kashket,