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Wanderers might have been tipped as title contenders by Stevenage boss Steve Evans – but Ian Evatt reckons they still have some way to go before deserving top billing.
Evans – who started his playing career as a teenager at Burnden Park – has given the Whites a glowing recommendation in the build-up to tonight’s contest between third and fourth in League One.
The Hertfordshire side was promoted from League Two last season and have made a surprisingly strong start to the season, their defeat against Oxford United on Saturday only their second in 10 games.
Evatt is happy to take Evans’ praise but he wants his players to build on what they did in victory at Port Vale, anticipating an even sterner physical test.
“He said we were a bit special, and that we were his pick for the league title – I mean, Steve is a very experienced manager and we’ll take those comments as a compliment but also know that he will have his team fully fired up to give us a really good game,” he said.
“We have made a solid start, a decent start, and there was a lot of good things to come out of the game at Port Vale, particularly in the first half, which I think is one of the best since I have been manager at the club.
“But we can do more, we are always looking to improve, and we know this will be a very tough game indeed.”
Stevenage’s direct style has caught out the likes of Northampton, Cambridge and Shrewsbury so far and though far removed from his own preferred possession-based approach, Evatt has warned that tonight’s opposition are effective.
“In terms of style it is a completely different approach but there isn’t a right or a wrong way, winning football matches is all that really counts. And they have more points than we do, albeit they have played the one extra game,” he said.
“It is an opportunity for us to go ahead of them with a game in hand and they have been very successful with what they have done so far. There is definitely two sides to them, so job number one is dealing with them and what they will throw at us, then on the flip side doing what we do.
“If we only do one thing then we’ll lose the game – we’re not built for it. We need to do both and be the best version of ourselves on the ball and then also against the ball, which is a tough thing to do.”
Evatt is looking for his players to emulate the sort of penetrating football they showed at Vale in the first half as they prepare for their first of two home games in four days.
He said: “What we are finding and what we continue to work on is that build up, and being more incisive, the quick combinations through the middle in particular, where you are drawing defenders out of space to then combine centrally, creating the space in behind. We did that really well in the first half at Port Vale, the only downside being that we didn’t get extra goals.
“We want more – but there is definitely a step forward in our approach work than the previous years I have been here.”
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