Stevenage boss Steve Evans has pinpointed the single moment he thinks cost his side a point after conceding late to lose to Derby County on Saturday.
Boro were closing in on a well-earned goalless draw on their first-ever visit to Pride Park, limiting the Rams to few opportunities, with Paul Warne’s side failing to have a single shot in the first half. However, a lapse in concentration as the clock hit 90 allowed Nathaniel Mendez-Lanig to find Louie Sibley inside the area to turn it home and extend Stevenage’s winless run to four games.
Love it, @louie_sibbo! 😍#DCFC pic.twitter.com/dTgcdetXsx
— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) February 18, 2024
Recent second-half comebacks from Port Vale and Bristol Rovers have also cost Evans’ team crucial points in their first season back in League One as they push to get into the play-offs at this level for only the second time in the club’s history.
Evans pointed out perhaps an unexpected reason as to why Derby were allowed to fashion a winner late on, blaming substitute striker Aaron Pressley for not sticking to his defensive duties high up the pitch [quotes via The Comet]:
“The goal has just come from Aaron Pressley losing his shape defensively. I know he’s an attacker, but we have a plan and he switches off. Two passes later it is in our net.
“Mendez-Laing is always going to get away from defenders at times.
“But at the top end of the pitch, the goalkeeper rolls it out to left-sided centre-back and one of our strikers runs off Korey Smith, the midfield player, and he just releases him.
“If he just held his shape, which he is instructed to do, we don’t concede the goal.”
The 61-year-old Scotsman did not hold back in his criticism of the moment, sending a warning to Pressley as well as the rest of the players.
“And it’s fair to say if you do that consistently you’ll not be playing in the team. Everyone has clear instructions.”
This was a brutally honest assessment from Evans of a moment that denied Stevenage what would have been a big point in front of their 1,042 travelling fans. The result condemned them to back-to-back league defeats for the first time since October.
Writer’s View
Despite the last-gasp despair, it was a game that perhaps signified how far Stevenage have come in just under two years under Steve Evans. When he took over, they sat just three points above the League Two relegation zone and as he approaches the second anniversary of the start of his tenure, he is frustrated as his side have dropped out of the top six in the division above.
In the bigger picture, it is a result that leaves Stevenage seventh in League One, a place that most fans would have snapped their hand off for before a ball was kicked this season. However, supporters will be hoping this string of poor form is just a blip and not something more terminal for their playoff hopes.
