Mark Stimson will be hoping his decision to name just six substitutes for Friday night's game at Southend will be a wake-up call to some of his reserve players.

Stimson, pictured, was permitted to name seven, but felt some of the fringe players didn’t deserve a place on the bench.

The Gills boss said: "You have to earn your right to travel with the first team and be part of it, otherwise it becomes a bit of a jolly-up – it’s not, it’s work and it’s serious business.

"If you want to get involved and it’s in your contract that you get appearance money, that should be enough.

"You definitely don’t miss out on the bench, just in case the manager needs to put you on.

"I didn’t think anyone’s performance in the reserves on Wednesday warranted being on the bench on Friday and that’s Adam Miller, Garry Richards, Luis Cumbers and Andy Pugh – four players who I didn’t think performed well enough.

"Sometimes it’s too easy to just sit on the bench and be part of it. Hopefully they take it in the right way, buck up a little bit and show me on Wednesday (in the reserves against Crystal Palace) that they want to be on the bench."

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