The decision to make Nigel Adkins the permanent Tranmere Rovers manager couldn't have come at a worse time for Stevenage - as Steve Evans says he is "too gifted" a boss.

Stevenage begin their FA Cup adventure at home to Rovers in the first round on Saturday and on paper alone, it has the look of a banana skin.

The Wirral side are one division below Boro and in the bottom two with just three wins from 16 while the hosts are sitting inside the League One play-off positions.

And the task has just been made even more difficult by Adkins' appointment admits Evans.

He said: "Mark and Nicola Palios will have been inundated with good, experienced managers trying to get that job. 

"I know that because some of them asked me what I thought of Tranmere’s squad from last season as a lot of it is the same. 

"But when I saw Nigel take the chair on a temporary basis, and then he got a good result, I thought ‘here we go’, Nigel is coming back in. 

"He's too young, too knowledgeable and too gifted not to be in the game. 

"He was very unfortunate to lose his job at Charlton, but it happens as part of the madness of this world of football management we’re in. 

"But the fact that they can attract Nigel to take the permanent position of manager, he makes [the game] tougher because he's more knowledgeable and more experienced than what's been there."

That poor league form was the reason for Ian Dawes being removed from his post in September and Evans believes Tranmere will be wanting to use the cup and Adkins as a catalyst for a change in fortune.

He said: "The expectation at Tranmere at the start of the season, I remember speaking to Ian Dawes, and there were real hopes they could fight and challenge for promotion. 

"It's not been the case so everyone knows what happens when in that situation, the person that pays the price is the manager. 

"Nigel's come in and he will be doubly determined to get off on a really good footing. 

"But equally, we’ll be determined as they are hopefully.

"Everyone has concerns about playing against a team with a new manager because there should always be that new manager bounce. 

"We just have to concentrate, like we did last week [against Derby], on our own team shape and our own formation. 

"But the FA Cup is something that's just extraordinary in your life. 

"If you’re still in the cup in January, it makes it brilliant over Christmas and the New Year period because it's something to look forward to. 

"When the draw was made, the first thing I thought was ‘difficult’, I’d rather have had one or two teams that clubs in our division have got at home. 

"But you can't choose the draw, it is what it is, and I’d rather have Tranmere at home than Tranmere away."