Preview: Gillingham manager Neil Harris on their League 2 match against Stevenage at Priestfield

Gillingham boss Neil Harris admits he has plenty of decisions to make this weekend to combat a physical and direct Stevenage side.

He’ll want to name a side who can stand up to the challenge of the League 2 leaders but, with improvements being made in recent weeks, there is a balance to be found.

Harris might choose to bring big defender Elkan Baggott back in while captain Stuart O’Keefe is also getting close to being available again after injury. He also has decisions to make upfront, with Lewis Walker scoring again in midweek.

He said: “We have had a relatively settled team last three games, maybe we have to think about a change to try and combat Stevenage’s strengths but we also have to look at what we do and where we have been getting better as well. How far do we want to come away from that?

“Decisions for the weekend? Yes, we have quite a few to make, for me it is about trying to get as many right as possible, like the decision last week to start Mikael Mandron.”

Stevenage top the division with 10 wins from 13. It’s the first of some tougher challenges ahead for the Gills, with second-placed Leyton Orient to play soon along with top-half sides Barrow and Doncaster coming up.

Harris said: “Stevenage have a lot of points, they will be in a good place, confident, they have a big group of players, I am sure Steve (Evans, their manager) will have selection headaches with who to pick. He’s got very good players at the level.

“We know what attributes they have as well, a direct team, physically they ask a lot of questions of you and you have to stand up to it, a different challenge to maybe Crewe, but every game is a challenge, we have to find a different way of competing.

“It’s why we are in the game isn’t it? To test