Patience and focus may be the watchwords for Stevenage this weekend but Steve Evans wants the prizes at the end of their Easter hunts to be three points.

Boro host Colchester United at the Lamex Stadium before heading up to the north-east to play Hartlepool on Easter Monday.

Both of the opposition teams are scrapping it out at the bottom to remain in League Two.

Stevenage want to get out of it at the other end and the Easter programme will go a long way to deciding it.

The Boro boss said: "Everything's in our own hands, our own fate and we decide what's happening, no-one else. 

"If our performances are where they should be, then we'll get a decent points return. 

"I remember the words of the greatest manager in my lifetime, Alex Ferguson, and he always described the Easter period as being for points, not eggs. 

"And it is true. 

"It's just about being focused, being calm and being ready.  

"We’re like a rifleman who’s got one bullet and has to be calm, has to be very focused and he has to make sure that the bullet goes where it's meant to. 

"From our point of view, we have to make sure the performance goes where it needs to go and I know now, without anything else happening, we'll need to reproduce the second-half performance against Northampton to get the three points. 

"We can do that, we’re capable and have demonstrated it a number of times this season. When we play like [Northampton], we are an exceptional side in the league. 

"We need to make sure we produce more of them than we don't for the eight games we've got left." 

That effort after the break in the 1-1 draw at Sixfields last time out rightly brought praise from all quarters, including the boss himself.

But he needs it to be replicated for the majority of the game, not just 45 minutes.

Evans said: "I think perhaps some, not all, but maybe some of our players have to realise what they're up against and the quality they're up against and the fight they're up against.

"But for sure, that second half was the best performance we've had since I arrived at the football club. 

"That’s everything in the DNA of what we're about and how we want to play. 

"I know their chairman Kelvin Thomas very well and after the game he said it was the best performance in 45 minutes against his team at Sixfields. 

"He called us relentless, he called us classy and physical and he gave us all the plaudits that you would want as the manager of a team.

"But what we have to do now is focus solely on Colchester. 

"We know three points will send us to the north-east in good spirits. 

"We've got a points tally in mind for the weekend and if we achieve that, we'll be in really good shape with six left to play for us and five for others."

Friday's game will not be easy though, a point Evans was quick to make.

He said: "Ben Garner is a very good manager, a very good coach, but I read his words this week and he was saying that they’ve drawn the last three games but they’ve been by far the better side in those three games. 

"I’ve looked at the footage and Ben is exactly right. 

"They've got some big players, a lot of championship experience in their group. 

"We have to take care of them first. If we win, it's great. If we don't, then we'd have to take care of things on Monday and so on. 

"But we have a real opportunity to get some points in the bag and we understand that. 

"So do others though so we have to be at it."