Manager Neil Harris admitted it was a horrible feeling to have left Max Clark sitting in the stand on Saturday.

Clark was among the standout performers last Tuesday when the Gills beat Southampton in the Carabao Cup but Harris didn’t have enough room in his weekend squad for everyone.

Instead of playing, Clark had to make do with a warm-up pre-match before the real action got under way.

Harris said: “I have brilliant options, but it was horrible (to have left him out).

“He is a professional, he wanted to go out and work (with the fitness coach) before the game, he is a top, top player and arguably should be in the team and at least on the bench but I picked a balanced bench accordingly and that is a lovely position to be in.

“I am not going to be in this position every week, where I can afford to leave out a senior player, or be patient with a player coming back from injury, or getting into fitness, but at the moment we are in a position to be able to do it and it is not personal, it is football, it is my job.”

Harris opted for Scott Malone at left-back and the man chosen to play didn’t disappoint.

The manager said: “He is a really good lad, a top player at this level and he has come seamlessly into the group.

“We didn’t expect to get him, Max Clark came into wear the number three shirt and we thought he was a brilliant signing, then we were in a position where Scott has trained with us for two and a half three weeks, to get fit and be around us, he loved it so much that he wanted to stay with us, it is certainly not about the money!

“He and Max Clark are fighting for a shirt, but Max Clark has arguably been one of our best players as well on Tuesday night, and so it was harsh for him not to be in the team, let alone not on the bench.”