Canny new Stevenage boss Steve Evans is starting to work his magic at the Lamex after his first win in charge at the weekend.

Boro impressed many with their work ethic during their vital 2-0 victory at Colchester to boost hopes of League Two survival.

Evans, who replaced the underperforming Paul Tisdale late last month, is uncompromising when it comes to knowing what he wants from his teams.

Evans side built on the number of chances they created during their unlucky 1-0 defeat at home to Oldham in early April, to land a crucial three points in Essex last Saturday - and requires more of the same from his charges for the crucial Good Friday clash with Rochdale at Broadhall Way.

When it was suggested that the number of chances his side have been creating recently stem from his non-negotiable demands - that start with plenty of hard work behind closed doors at the club's Bragbury End training ground - Evans is quick to praise his squad for buying into his unflinching ethos.

"Well, I think it's come from the lads," he explained in an exclusive interview with Nub News, adding: "We changed a lot [from the previous regime]. We changed the programme. We're training on the front foot. We're training aggressively and passionately. And we're playing like that.

"And what comes from that is we found it to be successful at [Evans previous clubs] Crawley and Rotherham and at Leeds.

"People forget that at Leeds - even if Leeds fans don't, they were very kind to me – that we were successful, because prior to that Leeds United had only won at home once in eight months. How can Leeds United have only won at home once in eight months?

"They were third bottom of the league. Same at Rotherham, same at Peterborough.

"You have to go in and breathe confidence, you breathe commitment. Tell you what gave me confidence on against Oldham in my first home game: Elliot List doesn't normally miss chances. Luke Norris normally scores the chances that are created for him. Michael Bostwick came in and I should have scored from there. But it's confidence. If we'd have scored early on we'd have won the game."

Evans knows his side have a battle on their hands to retain their prized league status - but is relishing the challenge.

"Football's all about taking your chances," he says. "We have to learn from that. If we had a main striker who'd got 30 goals and he got injured or goes on a dry spell I'd be worried. But we have a number of players who can score goals. You can learn a lot from the reactions of their teammates. They were going: 'He [List] would have normally scored that.' That gives me confidence."

Evans, also took time out from his busy schedule to praise everyone associated with the club - from the chairman to the fans.

The tough Scot has also been impressed with the set up behind the scenes at Stevenage, which includes the club's state of the art training ground at Bragbury End.

Speaking to Nub News in his managerial office prior to putting his side their paces in training, the experienced Evans explained: "As a football club, there is a fantastic infrastructure. It's Championship standard.

"There are no excuses here. You get left by the chairman to do your job. As the chairman told me: 'You're the managing director of our training facility to get our players prepared to play football matches.'

"Everyone knows our squad has weaknesses. But it has also got a lot of positives. We've demonstrated that.

"Not so much at Exeter. We worked hard but we showed our quality against Oldham. We know what the result should have been.

"But when luck goes against you, there is only one answer, you have to force it. You have to force it to charge.

"We've been working hard. There's been a positive energy and positive vibes this week. Winning is a habit."

See Nub News for our exclusive in-depth Q&A with Steve Evans ahead of the Rochdale game on Good Friday.