“It could have been six or seven” said a delighted Gillingham manager Steve Lovell.

His side showed an attacking threat throughout against Burton, led by the excellent Brandon Hanlan.

Hanlan did everything but score as Tom Eaves netted twice and Luke O’Neill bent in a free-kick.

“It was a very good performance,” Lovell said.

“It was a 3-1 win but it could have been six or seven and like last week, the only disappointing thing was that we didn’t score more.

“They had a couple of opportunities, which they are going to do in 90 minutes, but we defended it well. On the front foot, when we went forward, we always looked threatening and it was a really good team performance.”

An early injury to Dean Parrett led to a reshuffle for the Gills as Eaves came off the bench and went upfront alongside Hanlan. The big striker made an immediate impact, levelling the scores and later in the game scoring the third.

Hanlan claimed assists for both of Eaves' goals.

Lovell said: “Like I have always said, the squad we have got is good in depth. Tom couldn’t get in the team from last week but he has gone on and taken his chance. You want your top goalscorers to be in form and he got two.

“We have got legs in the team and we have got people who can run, people who can get around the pitch, clever people who can understand the way we play and they adhere to it.

“We played the diamond (formation) well and it was only in the final 15 minutes that we changed to 4-4-2. We were 3-1 up, the game was won and we didn’t have to go hunting for more.

"We let Brandon and Tom deal with it on their own and they did. Brandon could have had three or four.”

Lovell welcomed an early home win too, having seen the team drop vital points at Priestfield last season.

He said: “It is great to get a win at home. So much has been made about our home form, being not good enough, and when you go 1-0 down you think ‘here we go again’. I just felt it was never going to be in any doubt. We were on top when they got the goal and we built and got stronger throughout the game.

“They are a good side and their three front men caused problems. We handled it very well, especially when we went back to a 4-4-2 at the end, we nullified them and got them on the counter.

“It was a good team performance but it would have been nice to get a few more goals.”