England World Cup hopeful Ivan Toney will start for Brentford against Gillingham on Tuesday night.

Bees manager Thomas Frank has confirmed that the 26-year-old striker will be lining up against the Gills in the Carabao Cup third round tie. England boss Gareth Southgate is set to name his 26-man England World Cup squad this week and Toney is determined to get himself on the plane to Qatar.

Toney is back from suspension for the Carabao Cup clash, having missed the game against Nottingham Forest at the weekend, and Frank is also set to name Danish international Christian Norgaard in the team after his return from injury.

Frank said: “Ivan will start. He is fighting for his position in the World Cup squad. Of course, he is hoping to be called up.”

Brentford paid Peterborough £5m for Toney in 2020, a player who was signed to the London Road club by former Gills boss Steve Evans. He scored 26 goals for Posh in his last season there but Gillingham denied him a goal in their two previous meetings that season. He did score in a 4-2 win at Priestfield the season before, however.

Toney is currently assistant the FA with enquiries after reports in the national press that he was being investigated for gambling. He still remains available for World Cup selection.

Tuesday night’s game will be Brentford’s last home match before the World Cup break. They play away to Manchester City on Saturday.

Brentford made 11 changes to their team for the Carabao Cup second round match against Colchester United but will be stronger when they face the Gills at the Gtech Community Stadium.

The club reached the semi-finals of the competition in 2020/21 and the quarter-finals last season and Frank will be keen for progression to the latter rounds again, hoping to avoid an embarrassing slip-up against a Gills side struggling for goals and points in League 2.

Gillingham’s last match saw them held to a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup against National League North side AFC Fylde.

Frank said: “We are playing in this competition, so we try to win it. Why not? That would be a huge thing for the club.

“I personally want to win as many games as possible. I’ll put a very strong team out there.

“We have more quality players in the squad this year. We’re pushed a little bit to the limit at the moment with so many players out, but that’s part of football - every team will have injury issues.”

Gills boss Neil Harris and Frank are friends off the field and knows what to expect.

He said: “They will come and they will play direct and we need to be ready for that.

“We need to be ready for the second balls, for the set-pieces and the transition against us. That’s the plan.”

Gillingham have injury problems in midfield, with captain Stuart O'Keefe a doubt, and among those set to feature is Dom Jefferies, who left Brentford in the summer. He picked up the Brentford B team player-of-the-year award in the 2021/22 season but was released in June 2022, subsequently joining the Gills.

The 20-year-old Welshman has recently returned from injury and has been limited to just three league starts.