GILLINGHAM will have high hopes of progressing in the Carling Cup after landing a home tie against Northampton in the first round draw.

They have a good cup pedigree in recent seasons and will hope to get one of the Premiership big guns should they see off Colin Calderwood’s team on August 24.

Player-manager Andy Hessenthaler was happy with the draw and expects to be in the hat for the second round.

He said: “We are at home and are favourites and expect us to get a result. It’s a good thing to have a home draw for once. Normally we are pitched away to places like Torquay, which have been tough.”

Northampton just missed out on promotion last season through the play-offs from Division 3, now League Two, and Hessenthaler added: “Northampton had a great year last season. They’ve got a good manager, Colin Calderwood, who has done very well. It will certainly be a tough game for us.”

The two sides have met five times in the competition, with the Gills winning three of those meetings. The last time the teams played was in February 1999 when Gillingham won 1-0.

Gillingham reached the third round last season where they beat Cambridge and Stoke before losing 2-0 to Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.