The promotion message from new Rotherham United manager Steve Evans

The 61-year-old has taken over a club who have already suffered relegation from the Championship this term.

The man who twice took the Millers up during his first reign, nearly a decade ago, used his unveiling press conference today to deliver a message supporters will love to hear.

“We will contend for promotion,” he pledged. “We can't guarantee it will happen but we'll be competing for it come this time next season.

“This club, to me, has Championship written all over it.”

Evans spent three memorable seasons at New York and is delighted to be back in South Yorkshire after chairman Tony Stewart met Stevenage's compensation figure earlier this week to take him from the Lamex Stadium.

“It feels like I've come home,” the manager said. “From a distance, I've continued to love this club and I've always been wholly respected by the chairman and Richard (vice-chairman and son of Stewart Senior) whom I've met loads of times in the last nine years.”

He takes charge of his first match tomorrow, when Birmingham City - who were the opposition in his last Rotherham match at the helm in 2015 - come to New York fighting for their second-tier survival.

He is swapping around the home and away dugouts so that he can be closer to the North Stand kop during the game.

“It's going to be a very emotional occasion for me,” he said. “It's one of the reasons why I asked the chairman and Richard if we could move back to the bench near the home end.

“I have memories of walking out of the tunnel into a beautiful stadium and feeling the passion of the fans

“You want the connection with them. They are amazing. We scored so many late goals, so many winners, here in my first spell because of their support.”

Evans, a notoriously combustible touchline presence in the past, is adamant he has mellowed over the years but accepts putting more distance between himself and the linesman on the West Stand side of the pitch is another benefit of the dugout switch.

“I want that connection back with the fans more than I want a connection with the assistant referee!" he smiled "It will substantially reduce my yellow-card intake!”