Gillingham 0-3 Luton Town: Our way-too-early opinions after Gillingham's EFL Cup defeat

Ultimately, it's far too soon to start pushing the panic button, because the list of caveats around this game is long and significant. But there are certainly a few observations that I made from watching today's match.

With that in mind, here are our immediate post-match thoughts after Gillingham 0-3 Luton Town.

The two teams were only separated by one division, but the gap in class was an almighty chasm. The difference between the two sides in terms of composure on the ball, movement off it, and the speed of thought and movement was huge.

Some may point at the fact that Luton only just missed out on the League One play-offs last term, compared to Gillingham's mediocre League Two showing, as a reason for the gap, and that's valid. But Gareth Ainsworth wants his side to be challenging in the top half of the table this season, and he wouldn't have seen too much to be encouraged by in terms of competitiveness against a higher-grade side.

Gillingham played the majority of the game with three centre backs, with Logan Dobbs and Andy Smith flanking Omar Beckles in defence, with Kadeem Harris and Nick Freeman starting out as wing backs. To say the system didn't work would be an understatement.

Almost every attack in the first half carved the team wide open, and Luton continually managed to exploit the space behind the wing backs, as they took advantage of an alarming lack of pace from our back three.

If you want to play with wing-backs, you need two real athletes in those wide areas, and you need your two outside centre-backs to have pace and anticipation to step out and cover in behind them. With the personnel we have at our disposal, that seems like a recipe for disaster. From a balance, defence and personnel standpoint, a back four would make a lot more sense.

One of Ainsworth's light-hearted catchphrases states "possession can do one," and, to be honest, I tend to agree with him. It's not about how much possession you have, it's about what you do with it that counts.

But when you do allow your opponent to have the majority of the ball, it only makes what you do with it all the more important. And against Luton, Gillingham just didn't do enough.

It wasn't all bad news at Priestfield. For a start, it was a valuable 90 minutes at full speed for a good few of our first-teamers, and a game for our many new boys to bed in and get used to playing with each other.

James Brophy showed signs of being an influential figure in midfield, particularly when going forward, while Kadeem Harris looks like he could be a real threat out wide, though he was starved of the ball for the vast majority of today's game.

Elsewhere, Zane Albarus showed that he's not shy of putting his foot in, and did some good destructive work in the middle of the park. He'll need to sharpen up a little in possession, though, as he got caught on the ball a couple of times, but that will come with games. Remember, this was his first game in senior football.

There were positives from the bench, too. Conor McManus came on at left back and immediately put in a superb recovery tackle to show us some of his defensive abilities. He looked tidy and positive in possession, too.

Also, the introduction of 17-year-old Sully Booth brought energy and impetus to the side that previously wasn't there, too. Always positive and trying to make something happen, his appearance as a substitute suggested he could be a real talent in the years ahead.

Given the difference in quality, the somewhat patched-up nature of Gillingham's side, and the overall pre-season feel of the game, there are plenty of caveats (some might call them excuses) for what unfolded against Luton. So taking those into consideration, it's way too early to start panicking. The true test will come once league action gets underway next weekend, when Walsall come to Priestfield.

If we see the same issues with a full-strength side, playing at League Two level, then it'll be time to be concerned. If this was a pre-season game, most fans would brush this off. My gut feeling is we're best off taking that approach until we see what we're like against more relevant opposition.

The signing of a pacy centre back sure wouldn't hurt, though...