Gillingham’s B Team side set for match with Arsenal after many played against Portsmouth at Fratton Park in the EFL Trophy

Gillingham’s B Team players were in the spotlight on Tuesday and there’s a big game lined up for them tomorrow.

Three young players made their Gillingham debuts at Portsmouth in the EFL Trophy and others enjoyed a night under the lights at Fratton Park. Next up for them is a game against Arsenal - providing they’re not needed for the League 2 match at Walsall.

“It’s a fantastic fixture for them,” said first-team interim boss Keith Millen, who is also running the B Team alongside his duties as the club’s head of academy coaching.

“At the time when we arranged it we thought, ‘that’s a great fixture for them’. We have tried to get different levels, we have had Brentford, Folkestone, different types of games.”

With around six first-team players injured, Scott Malone suspended, Cheye Alexander on international duty and a couple out on loan, Millen will need some of those young players for the trip to Walsall - freeing up space in the B Team for some younger prospects.

“We will have to see who is involved on Friday,” Millen said.

“Not all of them will be able to play and so some of the under-18s will have to play, which again is brilliant, that is what you want, you want to push through your better players and whether they are ready or not, you don’t know until you play them.

“All of a sudden, a 16-year-old might go up against Arsenal and he’s like ‘wow’.

“I have no worries about pushing players through, we just have to be careful with their workload and not give them too much to do.”

Ike Orji and Matty Macarthur both made their first starts for the club and played 90 minutes against Portsmouth.

Fellow young professionals Ronald Sithole, Josh Chambers, Sam Gale, Alex Giles and youth scholar Stan Skipper all came off the bench,