Gillingham’s youngsters are pushing the senior players all the way.

A midweek Checkatrade Trophy win over Crawley Town gave a number of the club’s young pros a chance to shine.

Boss Steve Lovell was delighted with their showing and is predicting many of them to make a name for themselves in the Football League.

“It was good for a lot of the youngsters to go out there and play like they did,” said Lovell following the 2-1 win.

“It was important for a lot of the boys, especially the younger ones, to show me what they could do – and they did.

“I thought Noel Mbo and Aaron Simpson were excellent, they all did well. Ben Chapman and Bradley Stevenson went on and did well, as did Henry Woods. They looked sharp and looked as if they deserved to be out there.

“They all have a chance on that performance alone. That was their 15th or 16th match in under-23 friendly games and (the Crawley) opposition was a good challenge.

“The more they play the better it is for them. You can see that, they are coming on and they are sharp.”

Twenty-year-old Stevenson came off the bench and hit the winner, scoring from 20 yards.

“It was a good goal,” said Gills’ former goal-king Lovell.

“It was a good finish on his left foot, he is capable of that, we all know it. He looked nice, bright and sharp when he came on.

“The more minutes they get in games like this the better they will become but there is certainly some talent that we have here.”

Elliott List scored Gills’ opener and the 21-year-old is another pushing for more minutes having come off the bench in the last five matches.

“He looked bright all through the game,” said Lovell.

“They couldn’t handle him first half, they were chopping him down.

“Elliott has to start producing that on a consistent basis and if he did that he would be in our team every week.

“He knows that and scoring goals is a bonus. He knows what he can do, he has to start producing it week after week.

“A lot of the boys are pushing for a start and that is what keeps the others on their toes. We will go into the weekend with a near-enough fully fit squad and we are looking forward to Saturday.”