Revell tells Stevenage to 'embrace the moment'

Stevenage boss Alex Revell has urged his players to embrace the task ahead of them as they look to secure a place in the League One play-offs.

Boro go into Saturday's lunchtime kick-off at Doncaster in sixth place, three points clear of Luton Town and four head of Plymouth Argyle.

A win could secure a first third-tier play-off appearance since 2012, but even a draw would be enough if their two rivals slip up against Barnsley and Port Vale.

"We want to win every game. We don't change who we are, what we do in terms of that. The most important thing is the mentality of the group, the mentality of the staff to make sure that's the message," Revell told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"It's not about having to win games - if you say 'have to', it just heaps that on the players. They know what's at stake, they know how important the next two games are so the more we heap on them - it doesn't really work like that.

"I've spoken a lot about embracing this moment we're in and enjoying the challenge that we face. There's many clubs and players that want to be in our position but we're there and we'll go into it (on Saturday) no different than any other game."

Stevenage were promoted into the English Football League in 2010 and have yet to reach the Championship.

They bounced back from a 5-1 defeat at Bolton nine days ago by holding leaders Lincoln City to a draw and then beating Barnsley on Tuesday evening.

But Revell said that it was back-to-back games against Plymouth and Reading last month - the first ending in a 1-0 defeat and the second a 1-0 win - that convinced him his team had the belief to finish in the top six.

"If you go back to Reading, the second half was one of the most dominant performances I've seen. I felt we grew in confidence and belief and to get that win was really big. I noticed a little bit of a shift after that," he said.

"Reading are a really good side but in that second half, we played in a way that was so exciting to watch. Sometimes something clicks, something happens in a game where players just look around and think 'you know what, we believe in what we're doing' and I felt that was a real big moment for us.

"Since then we've put in some really good performances that have deserved wins. There's only been one blip (at Bolton) in that time.

"I'd also go back to Plymouth, I thought we were outstanding that day - we didn't get the result but you could see the performance was really good."