Stevenage hit the midway point of the season with the 0-0 draw at home to Colchester United - and they start part two of the campaign on Saturday with a trip to one of their main relegation rivals, Grimsby Town.

Boro sit 22nd in the table with 22 points from their 23 games, one point and one place above the Mariners, one of the two sides currently set to go down.

And manager Alex Revell says the game in itself is one they must win to give themselves every chance of staying up.

He said: "Even if we’d won against Colchester, Saturday is a big game but it is down to the staff to make sure the players go there with the same confidence and belief because if we play like we did against Colchester, one of those balls slipped through will go to a striker and they will score and be off the mark.

"When you’ve got confidence on top of quality, it puts you in a good place.

"Anybody who watched the Colchester game will have seen some good football. Yes, it is all about results but they don’t happen with the click of a finger.

"We are working extremely hard to make sure that results and performances match what we want."

The Stevenage manager, back in the dug-out for Tuesday's draw after missing the trip to Exeter City on Saturday with illness, is happy his team are on track for survival.

And with one week of the January transfer window remaining, he hinted that the squad he has currently, complete with the new signings of Chris Lines, Luke Norris and Matty Stevens who were captured earlier in the month, will be the one to go to the end of the year.

He said: "What it is all about is improving and if you keep doing that, then the goals and the performances and the results match the desire and the work-rate.

"I genuinely believe that is where we are right now.

"Everybody can see how much we’ve improved and the players that have come in have improved us.

"We are into the last week [of the transfer window] and if there is anybody we believe will improve us then we’ll bring them in, but we are not just going to bring people in because a name comes up. I don’t believe in that.

"I believe in having a really good bond between the players and staff because you get more out of them if you show them faith."

Tuesday's draw saw Norris and Stevens start up front together for the first time and although neither scored, Stevens having an effort ruled out for offside, Revell believes both are starting to show their ability.

He said: "That was the best we’ve seen Luke play by a mile. His hold-up play was great and he was a threat.

"He just needs to do that in the box and be the threat there we know he can be.

"Matty showed what a real threat he is too and what a real dog he is and we just need to make sure he gets in the box and scores the goals."