Justin Edinburgh was disappointed that his senior players weren’t there to back up the young guns on Tuesday night.

The Gills boss handed a senior debut to Mitchell Dickenson and gave Darren Oldaker and Elliott List their first starts, in the Checkatrade Trophy match against Luton Town.

Academy player Bradley Stevenson also came off the bench for his first Gills appearance.

Despite the appearance of a few young players there was no shortage of experience in his line-up and Edinburgh felt they let the youngsters down.

He said: “I have mixed thoughts on the performance. It is tinged with disappointment from some of the senior pros but in terms of the young players, some who were making their full senior debuts, I was pleased with some of them.

“I know one or two of them could do better in terms of possession of the ball but never did they give up trying.

“It was a bit of a juggling act to try and get the balance. Some needed the rest more than others. I probably got that one wrong, in terms of juggling, because the senior players that did play didn’t give an account of themselves that they would be proud of.

“Whatever game you are selected for you should give your best. What showed is that whatever level it is, if you have endeavour and a desire, which Luton did in abundance, then you are going to win more than you lose.

“A couple of players were making their senior debuts and that is a huge achievement, it’s a massive game, they needed to be backed. They weren’t backed enough by the senior players.”