Manager Steve Evans comments on Gillingham ahead of Stevenage's League 2 trip to Priestfield this weekend and an "embarrassing" offer for Jordan Roberts

Former Gillingham boss Steve Evans says the club remains close to his heart - but one person does not.

Evans will be bringing his table-topping Stevenage side to Gillingham this Saturday in what will be his first return to Priestfield since leaving the club by mutual consent in January.

His Stevenage side went top of League 2 after a 2-0 win over Swindon Town, a win that came courtesy of two goals from former Gills loanee Jordan Roberts.

While Evans has said little of his time at Gills and his exit from the club, chairman and owner Paul Scally described the final few months of their working relationship as dark days, and that it was a “monumental mistake” that they didn’t part company sooner.

Looking ahead to this coming weekend, Evans said: “We have a free week, we can freshen the players up and then we can be ready to go to Priestfield and all bar one person it’s very close to my heart. We look forward to seeing a lot of friends."

He added: “We will focus on the game and the 90 minutes and nothing around it.”

Back in November things were very different. The Gills had been keen to extend Evans' contract. He had led the club to two 10th place finishes in League 1 before a more challenging third campaign. Stevenage had contacted the Gills in a bid to take Evans as their manager but were knocked back.

A statement from the Gills at the time of Stevenage's approach said: "We look forward to Steve leading the team for the remainder of his contract, and hopefully beyond."

But just two months later Evans was out of the job. In April, Scally was critical of his former manager, saying: "The big mistake I made was not based on appointing Steve Evans as our manager, but more so for not removing him three months before I did.

“I