Gillingham midfielder George Lapslie hoping for better fortunes at Harrogate Town this weekend as team aim to bounce back from Bradford loss

Gillingham travel to lowly Harrogate for the first time this Saturday but midfielder George Lapslie is well aware of the tough challenge that awaits.

Lapslie’s old team Mansfield lost 3-0 at the EnviroVent Stadium in November and although the midfielder netted against them last season in the EFL Trophy his former team still came away with a 3-1 defeat. If Mansfield have struggled, the Gills will know the task in North Yorkshire won’t be an easy one.

Lapslie said: “They are a good team, every time we played them at Mansfield we struggled. We played them six times and didn’t beat them.

“We aren’t going to go there and walk all over them, no chance, they will be a good outfit and we won’t expect anything less.

"The goal I scored at Harrogate is probably the worst goal you’ve ever seen. I am just glad we are going there on a Saturday because when you go there on an evening the lights are so bright you can’t see what’s going on!

“It’s quality that we’ve sold the away allocation out and hopefully we will make it a good day for everyone.”

The Gills were allocated 600 tickets for the match on Saturday and all have been snapped up.

Harrogate are in a worse position than the Gills, just five points clear of the relegation zone.

The Gills lost 2-0 to Bradford City at Priestfield on Tuesday night. It was a blow but Lapslie is keen to move on.

He said: “If someone said to me we would win either Tuesday (against Bradford) or Saturday (at Harrogate), 100% I would pick Saturday. We are in a dogfight with them at the minute, it is a real six-pointer for us.

“We have to learn from Tuesday but it’s gone and we have to focus on Saturday, there is nothing we can do to change it, there will be a response on Saturday we hope.

“Bradford have a