Wanderers looking to move up the gears against Bristol Rovers this weekend
Bolton go away to Memorial Stadium on Saturday looking to carry on their recent good run.
Since Bolton were torn by Huddersfield Town at the Toughsheet, their form has improved since then, although how they’re playing has raised few eye brows. Only Wycombe have taken more points than Bolton since they started improving their form.
The Trotters currently sit seventh ahead their clash against Bristol Rovers, Ian Evatt knows he’s not seen the best of his Bolton side.
“We need to make improvements and if we can start getting to full speed, top gear, then the rest of the league had better watch out because I think we have been ‘okay’ so far and we are still in there pitching.
“Stay humble, keep working hard, and have a next game mentality at the moment. We are on a good run which has gone under the radar.
“That’s 26 points from 12 games – more than a quarter of a season – so we need to build on that and keep going in a big December.”
Wanderers produced another horror show of a performance in the first half against Mansfield Town on Tuesday night, for more than an hour they were trailing when Hiram Boateng’s header the only goal separating the two sides, after the hour mark he then gets a red card and Bolton’s quadruple of changes from the bench changed the game.
Evatt knows these first half performances have to change, drawing the blank in the first half for the eighth time in nine league games at home.
“We probably need to be better when we create those big moments, and we did early in the game. We should have given ourselves and the crowd something to get behind.
“At the minute we have a nasty habit of making things difficult as possible for ourselves. Who would have thought after Cambridge and what happened there that we would be facing 10 men again and this time behind?
“This group of players care, they want the best for this club, we all do. We have always found a way to respond and be resilient, and they have again.”
One man who changed the game when he came on was former Arsenal man Jordi Osei-Tutu, who helped get two goals for Bolton.
Tutu has recently come back from a hamstring injury, which left him out of the team for eight weeks. Evatt has been slowly bringing him back into the team, not wanting him to get injured again.
“Obviously the temptation is to go with him from the start but we have to really tread carefully, manage and build up his minutes,” he said. “You have seen what he can do when he is up to speed and fully fit and the aim Is to keep improving on it.
“I think all four of my wing-backs can play that role either side, so the more we work on it, the better we will get.”
Bristol Rovers vs Bolton Wanderers Saturday 7th December 3PM