Steve Evans believes the summer recruitment at Stevenage has gone virtually to plan.

Fresh from the wonderful promotion up to League One last season, the Boro boss has spent the off season plotting for the new campaign.

They have already signed six, with a potential seventh just awaiting news of a medical, and the Scot is delighted with the business so far.

He said: "From day one, our recruitment has been very targeted with myself and Leon working very hard to come up with the names and allowing our chairman to be involved with the numbers. 

"We've made some good signings but we're in the middle of a jigsaw puzzle and we're a long way from home. 

"It's very much as it was last season. We're four or five days into our pre-season programme and our job is to develop a squad to where we need it to be for the opening day of the season."

Not every deal has been landed, with the club aware of their place in the division from a monetary standpoint.

However, Evans also praised the system they have surrounding transfers.

"Financially we understand where we are in this league," he said. "We're not blind to that. 

"We have a good budget for me but the chairman can't do any more and there's always limitations as to what we have in our dressing room. 

"We almost have a capping limit where we're going. My instruction and my way of working is we won't break that, we don't want to break it. 

"We've got a fantastic dressing room and we're adding to it very carefully, obviously with ability, with what they can do on the pitch, and then the homework checks have been meticulous so far. 

"We've actually walked away from one on the basis of those checks, when we go and ask them about character and how they are and that. We actually decided not to pursue that one. 

"We're very fixed on who we want." 

And he also joked that part of the recruitment process was based on a player's name.

"I think we're on the lookout for anyone with the name of Thompson," said the boss with a smile. "If you can find them, we’ll sign them. 

"I actually made an enquiry the other day about another Thompson and I thought ‘no, I can't do this’ to the media or the fans. 

"What was key is we brought players into the building who had a good understanding of League One, if not higher.

"And when you bring players like the brothers, Nathan and Louie into the building, it brings experience, it brings good quality. 

"And Ben Thompson is at the top of that list. The kid is absolutely everything. 

"But there's other players that we've signed who are going to play big, big parts for us and we're trying to desperately add to that list." 

And it is not just new faces that have delighted him.

The new deals for Terence Vancooten and Luther James-Wildin were a huge bonus while the upgrading of Taye Ashby-Hammond's loan deal to a permanent one justs adds to the summer of fun.

Evans said: "We all thought Taye was going somewhere else. I thought that. 

"But he asked to meet me so I met him and an hour and a half later, he said he wanted to re-sign but be permanent. 

"And all summer I thought that Vancooten and Wildin would be in new pastures, but I think the boys knew by my pester power.  

"I don't think they got a day when they didn't get a WhatsApp and certainly in Terence’s case, he was in the hotel next door to me in Dubai so it was very easy to stroll across and wave. 

"But no, we’re delighted. They were two big, big players for us last year and they’ll be two big players for us going into this year. 

"We're delighted with who we've kept, we're delighted with who we've added and we need to selectively continue that progress."