Former Gillingham manager Steve Evans thanked the Priestfield fans for their reception after returning with Bristol Rovers on Saturday

Former Gillingham manager Steve Evans thanked the Priestfield fans for their reception on his return to the club.

Evans’ Bristol Rovers side were in town on Saturday - enjoying a comeback win against the Gills - and the 63-year-old Scotsman was applauded by home fans before the game.

Evans led the Gills to successive 10th-place finishes in League 1, during the two seasons that were hit by the Covid pandemic.

Financial worries led to cutbacks after normality returned, and the Gills struggled in Evans’ third season, which led to then-chairman Paul Scally wielding the axe.

Evans bounced back at Stevenage, winning promotion from League 2 and then battling at the top end of League 1, before returning to Rotherham who were already relegated from the Championship.

He left Rotherham after a difficult season in League 1 but returned to management at Bristol Rovers in December, tasked with saving them from relegation. He’s all-but done that after some shrewd signings in January have helped to turn around their form.

Rovers were a goal down at Priestfield on Saturday before Evans made four changes at the break to turn the game on its head. They scored twice in the second half to win 2-1.

Speaking afterwards, Evans said of his former team: “They've got some players. They were absolutely flying [at the start of the season] and then they lost Gareth [Ainsworth as he] had to go in for his heart operation.

“He's looking tremendous. What a fighter, a Trojan as a player and a competitive manager against me.

“He'll be hurting after the last two or three weeks when they lost by five [goals] consecutively against MK Dons and Cambridge United. He'll have been hurting even more [after Saturday’s loss].

“They are brilliant supporters [at