It's a game most Stevenage fans have had circled on their calendars since the fixtures were announced - but the same is true for the players and certainly for manager Alex Revell.

The Boro boss took over the reigns at the Lamex Stadium after Steve Evans and assistant Paul Raynor headed back to Rotherham United.

And when the two sides meet in League One at the New York Stadium on Saturday, it will be the first time that master and apprentice have gone toe-to-toe together as managers.

And it will be an occasion that Revell is looking forward to.

"I’ll be proud," he said when asked how it will feel. "We had two and a half years together that were incredible.

"And the way my career has worked here, I'll always be thankful to Steve and everyone above because of the decision they made [to bring me back].

"It gave me that love of football again so I'll always be grateful. 

"Steve's a good friend away from [football], I speak to him and [Paul Raynor]. 

"I have great respect for them both because of what they've achieved and what they did here and what they've done for me personally. 

"But when it's a matchday, he's a competitor but it’s a game that we want to get a result in. 

"I’m looking forward to it because it's a club that, obviously, I have a history with as well.

"It’ll be another huge challenge because of what we are what are missing, but you have to be up for it.

"But we’re also looking forward to it because we need a reaction [after losing to Cambridge United on Tuesday]. We want a reaction from these players and [training on Thursday] was good."

The sides go into the clash with Stevenage 13th and Rotherham three points and four places behind them, having played a game more.

That is not where many people expected the Millers to be, but that in itself does not make the match any tougher for the Hertfordshire side.

"You have to prepare for each game on its own merit," said Revell. "Cambridge was a tough game, every game [in this division] is a tough game.

"We know they're probably in a bit of a false position. In terms of the chances they've created in games, it hasn't quite happened in that area of the pitch for them.  

"We know the qualities they've got. They've got a lot of Championship players from last year and they've brought in quality over the summer. 

"We know where they should be, we know that they're one of the favourites to get promoted, but we’ve got our own qualities. 

"We've played some really good stuff this year. We've had that spirit, that togetherness and it was lacking [against Cambridge] but we have to bounce back from that." 

The defeat on Tuesday night not only saw Boro lose with a limp performance, it left them minus Carl Piergianni and Louis Thompson, both picking up yellow cards to give them a one-match suspension.

And with injuries to centre-back Dan Sweeney, Charlie Goode and Nathan Thompson, it leaves Boro down to the bare bones in terms of defenders.

It also takes away one aspect when it comes to team selection - changing your plans because you're second guessing what the other man will do, someone you feel you know inside out.

Revell said: "We've got what we’ve got but [if you second guess], then you start to over complicate things and you start to change things that have got us a reasonable start. 

"You do have to treat every game on its own and we know the strengths of Rotherham. 

"We have to make sure that we deal with those strengths but we have to make sure we go there for us. 

"It's about what we can do. It's about all these results that we picked up against the big sides. 

"It's about matching and going above that now because of the result on Tuesday.  

"We treat losses the same as wins, we have to learn from both. 

"We beat Mansfield, but we could have done better in the second half. We lost on Tuesday and we have to learn from why that happened and what makes us better for Saturday.  

"Nothing changes from our part. We have to make sure that we prepare properly and pick a team and a way of playing that suits the game."