Gillingham: ‘Chalk and cheese’ Gills want second EFL Cup scalp
Gillingham won 6-5 on penalties at Brentford in the EFL Cup third round
Manager Neil Harris has challenged his “chalk and cheese” Gillingham side to claim a second Premier League scalp in the Carabao Cup.
Gillingham won on penalties at Brentford in the third round and now face a trip to Wolves on Tuesday.
But the Gills’ cup efforts are in stark contrast to their league form where they are bottom of League Two.
“We’ve been chalk and cheese to some of the league games we’ve played in,” Harris said.
“But we’ve really enjoyed the cup competitions and again it’s another opportunity for us to do well.”
This will be Gillingham’s 11th cup game of the season and as well as reaching the last-16 of the EFL Cup, they have come through two replays to reach the third round of the FA Cup where they will face 2021 winners Leicester City.
They have only won two of their 20 games in League Two and are winless since 1 October, while they have only scored a paltry six goals in those games – the lowest of any team in either the Premier League or the EFL.
The next lowest is Wolves’ eight, a side go into the game bottom of the Premier League and are preparing for their first match under new manager Julen Lopetegui.
Despite the gulf between the two sides, Harris knows that the shoot-out success at Brentford offers them a glimmer of hope.
“We can look forward to it with a little bit of confidence and belief because we’ve won at one Premier League ground already,” he told BBC Radio Kent.
“We know that it’s gong to be an extremely difficult challenge and we know we’ll have to be every bit as good as we were at Brentford to have a chance.
“But in a two-horse race, there’s always an opportunity and we’ll certainly give it a good go.”
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