They have been good at keeping them for the last two seasons but Stevenage seem to have stepped up their clean-sheet game this year.

Boro managed to keep the ball out of their net a total of 23 times in their League Two promotion season and added a further 19 last time out.

They have already racked up seven so far this term, from just 13 matches, and according to first-team coach Scott Cuthbert, who knows a thing or two about the art, it boils down to one main thing.

"We've just got good players that know how to defend and know how to keep the ball out of the net," he said, "and I think that's worth its weight in gold to be honest. 

"If you look over the last few years, even when I wasn't at the club like last year and the year before, I used to text the gaffer and say another standard 1-0 Stevenage win. 

"It's become a bit of a habit and these things don't just happen by chance, they happen because you've got players who know how to defend, know how to stay compact and put their bodies on the line. 

"We've seen that in a lot of the games, particularly at home, where we've got a couple of lads that know how to play defensively, they know what their jobs are defensively without the ball. 

"People like Dan Phillips and Louis Thompson [help] massively towards that and I think people like Jordan Roberts do as well. 

"He’s really shown over the past four or five games that he can learn and adapt and get better at that side of his game. 

"There has been a massive improvement from Robbo defensively I feel, which is great to see because the forward players do set it. 

"I mean as much as the back four and the goalkeeper get praise, the midfielders and the forwards are just as important. 

"If you're going to keep clean sheets, they have to put pressure high up the pitch and I think we do that as a team very well." 

Keeping that number of clean sheets is all the more impressive considering the number of injuries they have, particularly in the key position of centre-half.

"I do think we've been unfortunate with the injuries," said Cuthbert.

"Aaron Pressley injured himself landing funny, Dan Sweeney injured himself landing funny, Charlie Goode injured himself jumping into a tackle and it can be a little bit frustrating at times, but that's part and parcel of football. 

"And that's why we've got a good squad. 

"Nathan Thompson's picked up a little knock [now] but he came into the team and was just absolutely superb and when one person drops out, it is an opportunity for someone else to come in and stake their claim and keep the shirt. 

"That's the way football is. We've got a competitive squad for that reason and it's up to someone else now to grab their place." 

Stevenage are now in the middle of a four-day break, brought about when their scheduled game at home to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday was called off due to international call-ups.

It is a break that Cuthbert feels the players need and deserve.

He said: "I think it's important that with the injuries we've got, the manager is really keen on making sure that the lads have a rest physically, but also mentally as well. 

"We can be really gruelling on the boys, you know, and we had Exeter away and Wigan away on a Tuesday night and back-to-back games at Peterborough and stuff like that so they need a break.  

"They deserve a break as well for their efforts. 

"They can rest up, we’ll give them some work to do over that time to keep them ticking over, but then they can come in ready to hit the ground running on Monday because we've got another tough run of games.  

"There are no easy game in this league, everyone knows that, and if you look at the fixtures it's just non-stop. 

"It's important we know as a group that we have to be 100 per cent every game to stand a chance so it’ll do the lads good to have a little break and then come back in firing on all cylinders."