Gillingham manager Steve Evans admitted Norwich gave some of his players a footballing lesson but it was just what he wanted.

The Gills were outclassed, as expected, but the match at Carrow Road served a purpose as Evans’ men completed their warm-up matches ahead of the League 1 season.

“I was delighted with the boys,” Evans said. “We were without some big players and I was speaking to their sporting director before the game and he looked at our teamsheet and said, ‘where is Jackson, McKenzie, Dempsey, Reeves?’

"We know Jacko and McKenzie are struggling a bit but the others were just feeling it a bit after the weekend and we had to take ultimate precaution.

“We were patched up and later on we had some academy kids on the pitch and in an ideal world we wouldn’t be playing them in League 1 going forward but I thought for long spells in the game we contained them, we had some organisation and good defensive shape.

“If you look at the goals, first goal is a deflection, it gives the goalkeeper no chance, second one Max goes to sleep a bit and then the third one we get caught ball watching a bit. There can be excuses for goals but they are a top side. It is a pleasure to play football at Carrow Road at any time, they get wonderful support.

“It was what we needed, we needed to step it up in terms of how hard we worked, a real intense 70-90 minutes, and we got that.

“They missed a couple of games because of Covid but seven of that team could be playing Liverpool on Saturday week (in the Premier League). It was an education for some of our players to play at that level but it was good to be involved in. We go away and we have worked hard, we will freshen up and then get ready for Lincoln.”

Report: Norwich 5 Gillingham 0