A scouting trip to Walsall gave Stevenage manager Steve Evans plenty of food for thought but there was also one moment which made him chuckle.

Walking to the stadium before the 0-0 draw with Bradford City, the Scot was having a few jovial words with fans of both sides.

But it was the words of one Walsall fan that brought the mirth.

Evans said: "One of them says to me that our season has been a disaster. 

"I told him that was their words, not mine, but it is amazing. 

"We’ve got a game in hand and if we get a win, we're comfortably in second. 

"We know we've had a bad run, the results speak for themselves, but the only way to end that is to win some games. 

"We've got a tough challenge with Walsall on Saturday; they were terrific against Bradford and should win the game."

Walsall arrive at the Lamex on a bad run of form. They are without a win in the last 10 league games.

They have drawn eight of them though but the Boro boss says that just proves his point about how tough it is to win games in the division.

Stevenage though have their own pressing need to pick up the three points.

They are on a sequence of just one win in the last seven with their last outing a humbling 2-0 loss to bottom of the league Rochdale.

That brought the players into training on Sunday but the extra session was useful according to the boss.

"The meeting was productive," he said. "It was two ways, it couldn’t just be one way, but we highlighted some things we're doing now that perhaps we weren't doing maybe 12 weeks ago, for example individually. 

"Hopefully we've corrected some of that with some of the training programmes this week."

And he believes the blueprint to a successful return to form, and possible promotion, is a combination of a number of things on and off the pitch.

Evans said: "We have to keep it very consistent and we need some players out of the treatment room. I don’t think we'll have any back for Saturday but we need them back with us. 

"We’ve got 13 games to go and if we take as many points as those around us, we’ll be in League One. 

"But we said that four or five weeks ago and if we’d done it then, we’d already be knocking on the door of League One already. 

"We need to make sure the lads are full of confidence and full of character and we're going to need the supporters to have patience. 

"They've been brilliant but we're going to need them loud and proud and behind us for two key games on Saturday and Tuesday. 

"I think they'll be right behind us but we need to give them a reason to be singing their hearts out late in the game. 

"The fans will be excited, as we all are with 13 games to go. We’re in with a real chance of promotion. 

"And it's certainly not been the disaster of a season that the Walsall supporter told me."