STEVENAGE manager Alex Revell hailed his “extremely special” squad as they picked up a deserved 1-0 win at home to Wrexham in League One.

Louis Thompson got the only goal of the game in the 10th minute and they comfortably held the highly-fancied Reds for the rest of an enthralling encounter.

“I’m so proud of this group,” said Revell. “I love working with them every day and that performance typifies the group that we are.

“The first half was some of the best football we’ve played.

“I thought that we’ve had brilliant games last year, some brilliant ones in League Two, but I just thought we had a lot of control of the ball and created good chances.

“What we’ve got in this dressing room is extremely special and the performance deserved the win for sure.”

The way Boro defended their lead caught the eye, helping them to a sixth clean sheet in nine league games.

And Revell hopes the fans are as proud as he is, adding: “It’s a really proud day for everyone here because we won’t have been everyone’s favourites to win.

“They had more of the ball in the second half but they’re going to.

“When they go long it is difficult but, to a man, every single player deserves huge praise and I hope that everybody goes home really proud to support Stevenage and proud to have been here.

“This was a big game for us and our challenge now is to keep going.”