Neil Harris would love to see Charlie Kelman wearing Gillingham colours when he takes his side to new League 2 leaders Leyton Orient tonight.

Boss Harris tried to bring the QPR striker back to Priestfield on loan but the 20-year-old joined the O’s on a season-long deal instead.

He hit the ground running at Brisbane Road, scoring three times in his first six appearances.

He’s gone nine games without a goal since, losing his place in the starting XI, but he’s a talent and one Harris would have welcomed back to Priestfield with open arms.

The forward was sent back to Rangers by ex-boss Steve Evans last season but returned during Steve Lovell’s caretaker stint and scored for Harris in wins over Doncaster and Accrington as Gills threatened to pull off a great escape before dropping out of League 1 on the final day.

“We couldn’t afford him,” said Harris. “I like Charlie. Charlie was brilliant for me last season.

“Charlie was great, a great lad. Funnily enough, he lives quite near me.

“He was a big part of our improvement last year when I took over.

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“He’s not been in the team the last few weeks but he’s certainly a good player at the level and we look forward to seeing him.”

Kelman came on midway through the second half on Saturday as Richie Wellens’ side won 3-2 at Carlisle to overtake Stevenage at the top of the table.

Asked if he expected him to start against Gillingham, Harris said: “I don’t know, to be honest.

“I’ve got to worry about my team rather than picking Richie’s team at the moment. Who knows?”

Gillingham gave a good account of themselves when facing previous leaders Stevenage just over a week ago, Elkan Baggott with the equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

Orient will provide a stern test but Gillingham are on a handy five-match unbeaten run in the league.

Harris, whose side drew 1-1 with Barrow at the weekend, said: “We know it’s going to be a challenge.

“Orient have been at the level for a few years now and they’ve invested heavily over the summer and brought in some really good players.

“I don’t know how they got some of the players in but they have and they’re a good side and we’re going to have to be at our best, we’re going to have to be much better than we were against Barrow.

“Orient are a strong side, they’ve not let loads in, but they certainly score goals.

“They’ll be full of confidence on their home patch.

“It’s a great challenge for us as a group now to say can we go one step further, let’s go away from home and put in another strong performance.

“Barring the first half against Mansfield and barring Tranmere, we’ve been in every game and we’ve got to make sure we’re in Tuesday night’s game.”

Gillingham look set to be without key midfielder Shaun Williams for the trip to east London.

Williams suffered a hamstring injury at training before the Barrow game and Orient will probably come too soon.

He appears to have a better chance of featuring at Doncaster this weekend.

Harris said: “We’ll miss him if he’s not available for Tuesday, and we hope to have him back for Saturday.

“But if he’s not available, whatever games you don’t have Shaun Williams for, you’re going to miss him.

“He’s not the most vocal but he leads by example and he leads with ability. We certainly missed his composure and his organisation skills (against Barrow).”