There will be no split loyalties when Steve Evans sends his Gillingham side out to face a club close to his heart.

Weekend opponents Peterborough are a club he loves, a club which he has lived near to for the last three decades and one which is supported by his in-laws.

His wife’s family will be in the away end at Priestfield but Evans will be doing all he can to ensure they don’t go home with anything to smile about.

He said: “I will have some relatives in that away end but I am not buying their tickets!

“I want us to win and I don’t want to be on the butt end of my brother-in-law Thomas’ jokes on Saturday night and be having to switch my phone off.

“They will want Posh to win and I would want Posh to win every other game other than when my teams play them.

“I wouldn’t have thought I will move away from the city (of Peterborough) and I am sure I will see my days out sitting there watching them.

“It is a club that is close to my heart, along with a lot of people in it. I still keep in touch with some of the main men we will be playing against, the likes of Ivan Toney. It’s a great football club that I have a lot of time and respect for.”

Evans’ love for Posh hasn’t diminished despite being sacked in January with the club inside the play-off places.

He hasn’t had much contact with owner Darragh MacAnthony since but bears no grudges.

He said: “I was surprised, like most people were, but the one thing I have always 100% believed in, if you are Darragh McAnthony, you have the right to decide who your manager is.

“We haven’t spoken a lot since but if I picked up the phone I would like to think that he would be there for me.

“When the chairman said it was time up I was in a bad place for a month.

“But I am very grateful to him because he gave me the job that I had wanted for many years. I will always be grateful that they allowed me to manage the club.”

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