Garry Richards is hoping the Gills can now reproduce Saturday’s performance in their league campaign.

The big Gillingham defender helped the side to a goalless draw against Stockport and he feels more performances like that in League 2 will go a long way.

“That is probably the best half we’ve produced this season so far and it’s a platform for us to build from now,” he said.

“We’re capable of putting that kind of performance on and if we do that in our league we’ll play most teams off the park.”

Richards, 22, is confident the Gills can now return to Stockport’s Edgeley Park a week on Tuesday and finish the job.

He said: “There are a few things for us to work on in training and if we just brush up on our quality in the final third we should start scoring more. We’ll go up there full of confidence knowing they are a beatable side.

“They travel better than they play at home but we know they are a good side and have a lot of quality on the side. They have a few boys who can change the game but there’s no reason why we can’t go up there full of confidence knowing that we can progress.”

Richards was a doubt leading into Saturday’s game, after picking up a knee injury against Rochdale, but he was back in the thick of things and he enjoyed keeping a clean sheet.

“They are the games I enjoy most,” he said. “The nitty gritty stuff and somewhere where you can get your head and foot stuck in. We had to do that at times and conditions favoured people like myself.

“For the lads at the back, a clean sheet is as good as a win. Hopefully we can go up there and keep another one and get through to the third round.”