IAN Evatt prepares to renew his rivalry with managerial adversary Michael Duff, insisting September’s humbling at the hands of Huddersfield will have no bearing in tonight’s Trophy tussle.

The two men will be in opposite dugouts for the 11th time in their career with both having previously earned three wins apiece.

Duff gained the most recent result – and one which landed Evatt in the middle of a storm of criticism from the Wanderers fans after what had been a poor start to the campaign.

Both teams have designs on promotion from League One this season and are placed fourth and seventh in the table respectively.

But with no points at stake tonight and the possibility of a penalty shootout if the game goes past 90 minutes, Evatt is looking forward to the challenge.

“We have moved on, but it was a disappointing result, and we need to be better,” he said of the 4-0 defeat. “They are a good side in good form themselves.

“Obviously we know a lot about Michael’s teams, just as he will know a lot about us. We have to produce a better performance than we did last time.

“This is a cup competition, a different experience, and we have a lot more players available this time. We’ll use it as good preparation for the big game on Saturday.”

Duff led Cheltenham Town to promotion from League Two as champions in 2020/21, with Wanderers going up in third having beaten the Robins at Whaddon Road.

Two years later the two men met in the League One play-off semi-final with Duff, then in charge at Barnsley, getting the upper hand over two legs before losing in the final against Sheffield Wednesday.

“We have played a lot against each other,” Evatt said. “I know what his teams try to do and he’ll know what my teams try to do. There is a little bit of a difference in terms of identity and ideology but as I have said before there is no right or wrong way, I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a good guy and we played against each other a lot as players and that has carried on in management.”