Steve Evans says the issues that came out of the fiery contest between Stevenage and Northampton Town back in October have long since been put to bed.

The game at the Lamex started with a bang, Terence Vancooten, conceding a penalty on 22 seconds that was converted inside the first minute.

It ended with three goals and a red card, Northampton claiming a 3-2 win, while the Boro boss was dismissed in the first period for a spat with opposite number Jon Brady.

And as the players headed back into the tunnel, there was further argy-bargy and pushing and shoving between the squads.

The managers though had mended the fences inside a week of the game and Evans says he expects the attention on Saturday's second v third clash in League Two to be fully-focused on the field.

Evans said: "There were one or two things said but Jon made contact with me three or four times. The first couple of times, I didn't want to do it but then we spoke.

"We've known each other for a long time. He's played against my teams plenty of times and he was a really good player with a really good character. 

"We've seen each other since and he is a really good professional, the same as Colin. 

"I would regard Colin Calderwood as a good friend of mine, we've seen each other on loads of family holidays and different things. 

"So, you know, let's keep the focus to the grass."

Northampton are undefeated in seven with their fifth win of that sequence against Doncaster Rovers moving them above Boro.

And Evans knows the clash on Saturday promises to be another tough outing for his boys.

The boss said: "These are the highest ranked opponents we’ll play, obviously they are second in the table, so that makes it tough for us. 

"We have a game in hand to go back second but you’d always rather have the points than the game in hand. 

"But going to Sixfields at any stage in the season is tough and you have to be that little bit smarter, work that little bit harder than that little bit more determined to bring things back in your favour. 

"We know how tough it will be but we'll come up with a team and a plan and we'll go there and try and come away adding to our points tally."

While Northampton were beating Donny, Boro were losing 3-1 to Salford with all three goals conceded the result of uncharacteristic mistakes.

They have been used as motivating factors by the Stevenage coaching staff.

"We had a look at it and there were two types of performance," said Evans.

"There was the first half where we should have turned round maybe 3-0 ahead and then the second half where there wasn’t a lot in the game.

"But if you make huge errors, you're going to concede. 

"We came in on Monday and certain parts of the video were brought up and we looked around it. 

"We know that's not us so we showed the ugly side but we also showed the good side, games earlier in the season when they have been absolutely outstanding for us. 

"So we expect a normal character performance from the lads concerned. 

"I look back at certain games, I look at the Bradford game and we're dominating again but we concede three times. 

"Saturday was even more evident because of the goals we conceded. 

"It was individual errors but it wasn't just one error behind each of the goals, it was two or three. 

"Because of the nature of the lads involved, we point them out and then we move on and the lads have been terrific all week.

"They've got that little spark between themselves to go again and produce the performances that they're known for round the league."