Gillingham will be out to enjoy themselves with a trip to Premier League Brentford this week.

The Gills head to the Gtech Community Stadium in the third round of the Carabao Cup, searching for some light relief and to briefly forget about their ailing league form and a weekend FA Cup tie that didn’t go to plan.

“We have to enjoy it,” said Gillingham captain Stuart O’Keefe.

“I think having played at that level you have to enjoy every second, that is what you want to do as a kid, you want to play against Premier League players at Premier League grounds and we have the opportunity to do that on Tuesday night, just enjoy the occasion, express ourselves and have a go and what will be, will be.

“It is a quick turnaround, a quick reverse, Fylde were the underdog (in the FA Cup on Saturday) and it was more of a cup final for them, that will be us on Tuesday, so we will have to take that on board and try and treat them with the respect that they obviously deserve. We will just enjoy it.”

The Gills head to Brentford as the 16/1 outsiders.

Neil Harris’ men have gone a month since their last win, beating Brighton’s teenagers in the EFL Trophy.

On Saturday they let slip a 1-0 lead at National League North AFC Fylde, with the home side deservedly levelling the score. The teams will replay that match next week.

Looking back, O’Keefe said: “We had a lot of the ball, did okay with it first half, we would have liked to have created more and got in better positions.

"Second half we turned over the ball more than we would liked, invited a bit of pressure and when you go to teams away from home it is always going to be difficult. They are always going to have spells and have chances and we could have done better, limited those chances, it was a disappointing second half.

“The frustration is that when you go in (at half-time) a goal up we wanted to see a bit more belief, a bit more impetus from us, but it didn’t really materialise, we kept giving the ball away cheaply.

“They are going to throw everything at it, make substitutions and put the ball in the box, put us under pressure and they are going to have a chance, we didn’t manage to see the game out well and that is our undoing, we should have taken care of the ball better.

“The FA Cup is known for the banana skins, they want non-league teams to go as far as they can in the competition, you have to respect the opponent and the competition for what it is, we did that, we did conduct ourselves properly with the right mentality, but it comes back down to taking care of the ball in the second half, that is where we let ourselves down.”

O’Keefe narrowly avoided a red card after picking up an early booking and was relieved when another challenge went without punishment.

“I think I have taken a clip and I have slipped,” he said. “I could have quite easily taken a second yellow but there was no intention, it was a genuine slip and I think the referee understood that.

"He said to me at half-time ‘one more and I have a decision to make’. It could have gone either way, I have seen people go off for them but there was no intention, just a genuine slip.”

In the end it was a quad injury that forced him off in the second half.

He’ll be looking to shake that off in time for the midweek trip.

“It will be a great occasion,” he said. “We will have a great following again, that is why you want to do well in these competitions, to put yourself up against the best teams and we will enjoy it.

“We will have to take care of the ball better than we did on Saturday, it will be a good day out and a free hit.”

The focus will then turn back to the league, with a home game against Northampton Town on Saturday, a team sitting third in the table.

O’Keefe still feels they are moving in the right direction.

“It is going to take time,” he said. “I appreciate fans are going to get frustrated and we do as players as well, we don’t like losing games or not winning, we all feel it.

“We all have to be patient, I think there is growth, Elkan (Baggott) has been excellent lately, really looks like he is growing into his role, and getting used to being a professional footballer, same as Will Wright, it is not easy, they haven’t played much together but they did okay (as a centre-half pair with Baggott).

“There is another game Tuesday, small steps, that is how we feel it is, that is how it is going to be for us in the immediate future.”