Neil Harris hopes Tuesday night’s goalless draw for Gillingham at Crawley is the start of a new chapter for his team.

There was scathing criticism from the manager after last Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Newport but Harris’ men turned in a much-improved League 2 performance and were unlucky not to have won.

“That was almost like starting a new chapter,” Harris said.

“Only time will tell if it’s the case but it would have been nice to start that new chapter with a goal.

“We have to look to the positives at the moment. We gave little away, and against a good attacking threat that has been assembled for a lot of money, let’s be honest, and we denied them so much.

“It is credit to the group that we had that clean-sheet mentality I talk about and the huge positives were that we created chances. We got bodies in the box and bodies forward, and we looked a threat. [It’s about] just touching up with a little bit more movement in the final third, then that final killer instinct.”

Gillingham - who added to their ranks with a free-agent signing on Wednesday - had gone into the game off the back of four straight defeats in League 2 without scoring. They remain on six goals for the season from 19 games, but did end that losing streak.

Next up is a trip to National League side Dagenham in the FA Cup Second Round this Saturday. Their opponents sit ninth in the top tier of non-league football, while the Gills remain in the League 2 relegation zone, two points off the bottom.

Harris said: “We look forward to Saturday now, and an FA Cup game. Probably two even teams, to be honest.

“I know they are in the league below, but we are bottom of one and they are top half of the other so there won’t be a lot between the teams.

“It is a chance to get into the Third Round. I said to the players, we want to win, but there is an element that when you play in cup games you can play with a bit of freedom.

“We have had a couple of wins in the Papa John’s Trophy and three strong wins in the Carabao Cup, with Wolves away to look forward to in a few weeks, so let’s go and enjoy ourselves.”

Saturday’s match at the Chigwell Construction Stadium kicks off at 5pm after being selected for overseas broadcast.