Before Stevenage’s midweek League One match against Peterborough United, their former team, Steve Evans, has backed the latter to achieve automatic promotion this season.
After a lacklustre tenure as Peterborough’s manager from February 2018 to January 2019, Evans has led Stevenage to an incredible sixth place. Boro will be hoping to cut the gap to Posh to just four points when they visit Weston Holmes Stadium on Wednesday. His direct style of football can cause problems for even the most experienced operators.
But, following four straight losses to start February that seemed to end their chances of promotion, Peterborough themselves appear to have found their form again under Darren Ferguson. However, they have since won five straight in every competition, and they are once again in the running for the top two spots.
At the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday, Posh defeated Burton Albion 3-1 thanks to an outstanding second half display that included former League One Golden Boot winner Jonson Clarke-Harris’ first goal since December.
Evans was all praise for his fellow Scot, who has only triumphed twice in ten meetings with Darren Ferguson [quotes via the Peterborough Telegraph]:
“We are facing a magician of a manager who has his team playing great football.
“I said after we drew 2-2 with them at our place that they would go up automatically and I still believe that now. They have some class players who are also hungry and full of desire so we know we will need to be at our best to get something on Wednesday.
“We will come up with a plan to stop them though. We know we will be up against it at times and we will need some luck, but I know I can win there with this team like I have in the past with Rotherham and Gillingham.”
The 61-year-old was also keen to praise the job he and his players have already done this season but insisted Boro’s battle is not with Posh:
“We are not really competing with Peterborough for promotion. We have our own mini league with Oxford, Blackpool, Leyton Orient and Lincoln and we are top at the moment and confident of staying there.
“What we have achieved already is incredible. If the league was based on budgets we’d be in the bottom three rather than in the top six. At the start of the season no-one would have tipped us to be above any of those teams we are fighting against for a play-off place.
“As I said I don’t think Peterborough will be in those play-offs and I hope they aren’t because I want them to go up, but we will be out to stop that runaway train on Wednesday.”
Evans, however, will watch the game from the stands as he serves out the remainder of his two-match touchline ban for receiving seven yellow cards so far this season.
