Stevenage made an audacious deadline day bid for a Leicester City striker revealed Steve Evans.

The League Two side had promised to be busy in the final hours of the 2022 summer window but only landed one intended target, midfielder Alex Gilbey coming in on loan from Charlton Athletic.

The move for the unnamed Foxes youngster floundered though, as did another deal, on the current club being unable to find a replacement.

Evans said: "We missed out on two but we did our bit. Clubs asked us to come back with certain deals and the chairman agreed.

"One stayed in the Premier League, a striker but a young one. He’s got an exceptional record last season and this one and I spoke to Brendan Rodgers a couple of times about him.

"Brendan really rates him and at one stage he was coming.

"I think their inactivity at getting players in has made Brendan think I better keep him.

"Another player was one who has played for me before.

"We went in a couple of times for him, last week and this week, and they asked us to do some things which we did but they said no.

"I do understand that it is because they couldn’t get who they wanted. It was a domino effect."

The one they did get though, Gilbey, made his debut for Stevenage in the 2-1 win away to Crewe Alexandra on Saturday, playing 62 minutes before a lack of playing time so far this season and cramp forced him off.

Evans was still pleased with the impact the 27-year-old had on the game.

He said: "We knew it would be a stretch for him and there was a big conversation at the hotel [on Friday] about whether we start him or introduce him.

"The view was that if we gave him an hour, he would come on from that.

"He’s a top talent and to get him in when seven or eight in League One wanted him is great.

"It’s fair to say Alex’s wife probably think I’m a stalker. I was parked outside his house the day before, waiting for him coming back from Charlton.

"She must have been thinking that’s a debt collector or someone who is not happy with us.

"I kept in touch and most importantly he fits in with our group. When I met him, I knew instantly he would.

"He’s humble, he works incredibly hard and he has always hurt my teams in the past."

And overall he is delighted with the summer rebuild which saw 13 players arrive at the Lamex

He said: "While we didn’t get the other two, the group we have is still strong.

"If you look at the strength of our bench [at Crewe], and we’ve got Michael Bostwick and Danny Rose to come back on Monday, that puts us in a good position."