Gillingham manager Neil Harris expects his new-look team to give Mansfield Town a sterner challenge when they meet for the second time this season on Saturday.

The Gills were booed off at Priestfield as they slipped to a 2-0 defeat against The Stags in September.

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With new faces in the Gills side - including Oli Hawkins and George Lapslie who played their part for Mansfield in a win that day - Harris is confident they won’t be such pushovers this time around.

“My team will be completely different,” Harris said. “We will be a completely different proposition for Mansfield to deal with.

“We know Mansfield have a squad put together over a few years, some good experience at the level, some good players, goal threats, they can play forward and run forward but also build the play as well.

“Nigel Clough (the Mansfield manager) is an extremely experienced manager and we know it will be a real test for us, every bit as strong a test as the last four games, Swindon in particular away from home.

“We look forward to it with a great deal of confidence and whatever team they play, they will be confident after picking up four points from two games. It is another challenge.”

Lapslie scored and won a penalty in that win against the Gills while Hawkins - who operates upfront for Gills - was playing centre-half and helped his old side Mansfield to a clean sheet.

Hawkins has been a regular starter for the Gills since signing but Lapslie has had to make do with appearances from the bench. His time will come, however.

Harris said: “He understands, he has had a few issues, he’s been unwell and he had a groin issue last week. It would have been an ideal scenario not to have included him Saturday, coming on the pitch, but it was a case of needs must.

“He has settled great, the lads really like him and he’s a great human being, again another sort of character that we want at this football club.

“He fits the mould of what Gillingham is all about, and he is a first team player at this level and above, he has been patient because he understands, that‘s football, when the team is picking up points and playing well he has had to be patient, but he wants to play and I am fully aware of that.”

The Gills paid their League 2 rivals Mansfield money for Lapslie and Hawkins, a fee that will increase if Harris’ men avoid relegation.

Harris is certainly a lot more confident of that happening now he has quality additions in his side. A fan vote prior to the January window on the KentOnline website had fans split 50-50 on whether they thought the club would survive the drop. That changed to 97% by the end of a productive month of shopping.

The Gills manager admits he felt the same.

He said: “We had scored seven goals in 23 games, I can’t lie, I wasn’t confident at all but a lot more confident now, 10 points in four games, it’s a great start.

“I look at my players, my team, the squad, and that gives me belief and confidence in the group moving forward but we just have to keep moving forward.

“We are not going to be unbeaten for the rest of the season, we are going to lose games of football, we are going to lose players through injury and illness and it is how we respond to those negatives.

“For us it is about making sure that come May 8 we are above that dotted line, rather than below it. Getting away from that danger area as soon as possible is key to us but at the moment we are rolling with the wave and the feel-good factor and we just can’t wait for Saturday.”

Not that there is much focus on the league table from within the Gills. Harris’ men are one point from escaping the drop zone.

“We are in a great place, everyone can see that,” the Gills boss said. “I don’t think the changing room takes a huge amount of notice of the league table, I have to be honest, the lads don’t talk about it and we don’t talk about it in the office.

“Yes, of course it is important come May 8 and I suppose it is important today, but the feel-good factor is so high that we are just rolling from game to game anyway.

“What we have at the moment is a team playing full of confidence, a team preparing brilliantly and diligently for games and really tuned into what we need to do and really looking forward to the next moment.”

Tom Nichols is a weekend doubt. He went down with cramp on Saturday but was taken off shortly after and has missed training in the week. Hawkins should be okay to have shaken off a rib injury.

Harris said: “When a player comes off in a game it is never a good sign for the next one."