Keeping their participation in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy alive was objective number one for Stevenage and manager Alex Revell - but seeing if some players could produce a performance and force their way into the boss's thinking was certainly another.

So the 1-1 draw against Gillingham, to round off the group stage, put a big tick against the first one and sent Boro in the draw for the knockout round of 32.

Point number two though left Revell in deep thought.

"Some did [put their hands up to be counted], yeah," said the boss.

"I think whenever you go on to the pitch, you have to take the opportunities there to show what you can do.  

"And that's not just with the ball, that's without it, it’s how you press, how you work, your desire to help the team. 

"If you don't take that opportunity, then it's an easy decision for me not to pick players. 

"We've hopefully got players coming back, that will add to our squad, and what we’ve had here for the last for the last two-and-a-half years, and it’s the biggest thing at the club, is we’ve got competition [for places].

"We need a competitive squad to drive others on, to get the best out of each other. 

"The players that came in [against Gillingham] had to prove that they were better than the ones already in the team.

"And it's left us leaving here thinking we've got a bit of work to do with some, maybe to [get them to] understand what it takes to play here week in, week out and the demands of this team and what is acceptable. 

"That's down to us to make that happen. 

"It has nothing to do with a lack of effort or energy, but maybe it was just through quality? 

"We have to help them improve but there's certain people that have absolutely given us thoughts.

"I thought Nathan Thompson was absolutely exceptional and he's come from being injured to playing two games in four days because [he wants to play] for the cause, for the lads. 

"If Nathan misses this game, we’d have to play a young 16-year-old in a game where we wanted to qualify. 

"Lewis Freestone showed glimpses of what he's about, maybe he needs a run of games?

"So yeah, there were good performances and there's performances that need improvement and we need to get those people up to the level."

The game itself against the Gills had its moments, but there were times where Boro flattered to deceive, especially in the first half where the possession stats were not reflected in the score or the shots on goal.

And trailing 1-0 at the break to a Josh Andrews strike, Stevenage needed a Dan Kemp goal, his third in four games, to give them the draw they needed.

"The job was to qualify," admitted Revell. "It was made more difficult with the players we had out. We’ve got 10 out so we really had to pull together. 

"But the first half was nowhere near acceptable for me. You've got to run, you’ve got to work and you’ve got to demand from yourself a will to win. 

"We took care of that at half-time and the second half was much better. We played forward, ran forward and pressed with real intent. 

"We deserved the goal and probably deserved to get another one after that."

The date of the draw for the next round is not yet known but the ties will take place in the week commencing December 9.