Steve Evans would have quite happily drawn the curtains on Stevenage's match at AFC Wimbledon - and he felt there were a number of players who didn't grasp the nettle.

The EFL Trophy match at Plough Lane ended in a 1-1 draw, Jamie Reid scoring from the penalty spot for Boro, but the boss was not impressed with what he saw.

He said: "I don't think either side deserved anything from the game. We should have all turned our back to the game, it was poor.

"There were poor individuals [too]. We gave people an opportunity to stake a claim but even the ones we kept in from Saturday didn't deliver a performance.

"The new faces were a factor and people like Jake Forster-Caskey have missed the last few days.

"There were players in different positions too because we are looking to have a larger group on Saturday.

"The shape gets put away when we have to put Alex MacDonald to left-back, it tells you we are trying to be protective."

Some of those players only came to the club on transfer deadline day and Evans says the honeymoon period is already over.

He said: "Harvey White will have to learn quickly and how to play quickly. This isn't U23 football where you stand in 20 yards of space every time.

"You have to work hard for the team and he did that more in the second half.

"Kane Hemmings hasn't seen much action so it was good to get him on the pitch. He played the duration.

"He didn't get any service though so we'll improve that when he is in the main team.

"But it hasn't been a good night for individuals busting the door down to get in the thoughts for Saturday.

"Saying that, we are carrying injuries from Orient and we have to get the team right for Carlisle which is a big game.

"Every game we play, we learn. We learned lots about individuals and where they can play, where they can't play and how they can play."