Gillingham striker Tom Eaves was upbeat in defeat on Tuesday night at Millwall.

A 3-1 penalty loss, after a goalless 90 minutes, ended Gills’ interest in the Carabao Cup at the first round stage.

“I think everyone was quite pleased at the performance,” said the upbeat striker. “Obviously not the result, but performance wise.

“I felt like it was a really encouraging display. We played some really nice football at times.

“There were going to be spells when they had possession but I felt like we dealt with what they threw at us and it is unfortunate to lose in the way we did.

“Penalties kind of speak for themselves. For me, it’s never really a justifying way to end the game, it’s disappointing but what can you do?

“It is disappointing to lose and we had a few chances that perhaps we could have tucked away but I thought it was a really encouraging performance.

“On reflection it has been three good performances now (after wins from their first two League 1 games). It’s good that we are getting some sort of consistency and even better that we have started the season well.

“As long as the performances are there and we are creating chances. We look solid and there is nothing to worry about really.”

Next up is a trip to Walsall this Saturday,

Eaves said: “Walsall is quite a difficult place to go to get a result, right on junction 10 of the M6, it’s not a nice place to go! But with the way we are playing we are still looking forward to it.

“We were disappointed to lose (on Tuesday) but performance-wise we are pleased with the way everything is going a the moment.”