Alex Revell had made his feelings perfectly clear about the effort of his Stevenage players after the defeat to Leyton Orient – and he got the perfect response away to Harrogate Town with a battling 0-0 draw.

The lack of goals remains an issue. This was the sixth League Two game in a row where Boro have failed to find the net, a total of 593 minutes with Saturday’s game against Grimsby Town their last chance to bag a goal in October.

And yet for a brief moment, in the aftermath of the game at Wetherby Road, that played second fiddle in the manager’s mind behind the application and performance of his players.

He said: “What the players showed today was grit, togetherness and a real desire to get something from the game.

“That’s all we ever ask of them.

“We ask for them to show how much they want to be involved and how much they want to change results.

“Every single one of them did that and if the chance goes in at the end, it would have been reward for a really top performance.

“To come here and get a point is a good result.”

It was their second no-score draw away from home and third in total from the five matches away from the Lamex.

Harrogate had started the day in a play-off position and yet Boro, with five changes from Saturday’s loss, did not take a backward step.

And there was praise from the boss for three of the players restored to the starting line-up.

“Harrogate make it difficult,” Revell said. “There’s a lot of long balls and they want to feed off second balls and big target men.

“We felt we could get on the counter and I thought the boys that came in, Marcus Dinanga and Femi Akinwande, were outstanding.

“Hopefully they now realise they are good enough to be here and they can do it.

“We believe in them 100 per cent, without a doubt, and they have proven they want to play.

“Romain Vincelot was a man mountain and proved why we brought him to the club.

“He’s been out for a long time and he was magnificent. That tackle was celebrated like a goal. I’m delighted for him. He’s had a tough year and a half.

“All the lads gave him a round of applause because they realised it was a good performance.”