Gillingham manager Neil Harris says upcoming games against League 2 highfliers Stockport and Leyton Orient will be better barometer for his players

Gillingham boss Neil Harris is happy that his squad are facing teams with plenty to play for.

The Gills are all-but-assured of League 2 football next season, sitting nine points clear of the drop zone with five games to play.

But they’ve got a testing run-in against a number of sides hopeful of featuring in League 1 next term.

Gillingham lost 2-1 at second-placed Northampton on Easter Monday. They now host third-placed Stockport at Priestfield this Saturday and leaders Leyton Orient are the visitors on Tuesday night.

Harris’ men also have trips to top-seven sides Bradford and Salford in their remaining matches.

“That’s the importance of playing these tough fixtures at the end of the season,” stated Harris.

“I can assess my players against them and see where we excel or fall a little bit short. We need to play better teams.

“We’ve had some fantastic results, home and away, and rightly so because we’ve dominated teams.

“When you’re coming up against the best sides over the course of the season, they deserve to be at the top of the league.

“Stockport won 4-0 (against Newport on Monday) so they’re vying for automatic promotion and then Leyton Orient are going to be champions and we also go to Bradford and Salford. They’re brilliant fixtures and they’re the games that I want now.

“We’re very close to achieving the goal since Christmas of getting to safety so it’s not about stepping backwards or relaxing. It’s about pushing ourselves and challenging ourselves to the end of the season.”

It wasn’t just the 90 minutes against Northampton that gave Harris lessons to learn.

He’s watched their recent games, and will know exactly what it takes to get into the top three ahead of next season. It’s where the Gills want to be under their