Steve Evans was like a proud father when he revealed his players have taken it upon themselves to steel their resolve ahead of a trip to AFC Wimbledon.

A 3-0 loss in the Papa John's Trophy at Portsmouth followed a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Mansfield Town in the league last Saturday, the first time Boro have gone two games without a goal since February.

But the boss was delighted to see his players take the initiative themselves when they returned to training on Thursday morning.

Evans said: "The boys have had their own meeting to be fair and have just said they want to return to their standards. 

"I love it. 

"The skipper [Carl Piergianni] is a great guy. He just popped his head round the door and said ‘gaffer, do you mind if we have a little meeting’? 

"We’ve always had a positive reaction so far on performance [after a defeat] and we need our performance levels to be right at Wimbledon because that is the only way we’ll get a positive result. 

"They are in terrific form, particularly at home. 

"I watched a re-run of their game at Swindon at the weekend and Swindon were fortunate to get a point. 

"They beat Leyton Orient at home and not many teams do that so it shows how difficult it will be. 

"But there’s a football saying that we all say – let's see where we are on Christmas Day. 

"It’ll be hard but if we do get three points, we’ll be second in the table on Christmas Day, compared to last season when we were second bottom." 

Boro had just five subs at Fratton Park as the squad battled a virus that was flooding the camp.

And although that is now passing, with Evans expecting "more bodies available to us", it comes in an already heavily-disrupted week as snow and ice hamper their preparations. 

"It’s been a difficult seven days," said the Boro manager. "We cannot train again [on Thursday] as it is impossible but we’ll be indoors. 

"We’ve not been on the grass since last Thursday and if you can’t get on the grass, it is a problem. 

"If you train properly, you’ll play properly and if you can’t train properly then it is a hinderance. 

"We’ll be as positive as we can and the staff are doing what they can but we are not alone. 

"Speaking to a Championship manager reasonably local to us and they are indoors today. 

"Grant McCann at Peterborough, they’ve got a dome, but most teams, and Wimbledon will be included in that, their pitches will be frozen so they’ll be inside as well."