Just five months after his sacking as Stevenage boss, Alex Revell is back on the Boro bench after being named first-team coach by new man Steve Evans.

He first appeared in the 2-1 loss to Exeter but is now an active member of Evans's backroom staff, issuing instructions in the 2-0 win over Colchester United alongside the boss and assistant Paul Raynor.

And Evans revealed his decision to bring back one of his predecessors came as a shock to chairman Phil Wallace.

Evans said: "Alex played for me at Rotherham and he was stunning.

"When he got the job here, he came and had a coffee with me at home and he spoke about the chairman giving him a chance.

"I did say to him ‘you may find it has come a little bit early’ but there are 72 EFL managers and so why wouldn’t you take it on.

"But there's no doubt that he loves the club passionately and he’ll sit in the manager’s chair in the future.

"He’ll learn a lot in the time we’re here and he’ll be ready.

"As soon as I mentioned that I wanted to bring Alex up [from the academy], the chairman raised an eyebrow.

"But it was interesting when I told the players because they were delighted for him."