Steve Evans was forced to watch Saturday’s game from the stands following a touchline ban but he didn’t mind.

The Gillingham manager picked up the punishment - which also came with a £1,000 fine - for using abusive and insulting words towards a match official in the recent League Cup game against Crawley Town.

Evans had trusted no.2 Paul Raynor delivering the instructions from the touchline on Saturday while he sat several rows back in the Medway Stand, alongside chairman Paul Scally.

“It was great,” Evans said when asked about his view from the stands. “I was with the chairman and I could hear every time he moaned!

“Over my career at Elland Road, Rotherham, here or at Peterborough, at times I have sat away and watched. Some really good managers in the Championship are choosing to sit away for parts of games.

“They are emotional guys as well and they say it helps them manage, they can come and change something and then go away again, I might do it (again).

“If I could sit up there and win every week I would buy the seat wouldn’t I? The chairman would be happy, he’d get a few quid.”

Evans started his stint as Gills boss with a touchline ban, carried over from his time at Peterborough. The passionate boss also had to watch a game from the stands last season after picking up four yellow cards.

He added: “It is interesting that I got more headlines than (Oxford manager) Karl Robinson did for (his ban), everyone wrote about me but there you go. Let’s just hope the FA don’t get any more money off me for a few years.”

More on the Gills;

• Why Saturday’s goal meant so much to ‘Big V’

• Video highlights & match reaction

• The best pictures from Gills’ 2-1 win

• Loan keeper bounces back from mistake