WANDERERS will be reunited with former favourite Kieran Sadlier at Wycombe tonight – but Ian Evatt insists he has no axe to grind.
After a year and a half with the team, the former wide player for Doncaster Rovers proved to be a popular addition, appearing 45 times across all competitions and scoring nine goals.
But under Evatt, he found it difficult to receive regular starts, and in September, he was given permission to end his contract in order to move to Adams Park.
Sadlier hasn’t had much luck with the Chairboys getting into games thus far—his only two starts have come in the EFL Trophy—but he won’t be short on motivation if given the opportunity.
Evatt claimed that the 29-year-old’s wish to spend more time on the field was the only reason for their split.
“He didn’t find a niche – but he is a lovely lad and we never once had any problems with him,” he said to The Bolton News. “His attitude towards training and learning was fantastic.” I have nothing but praise for that.
“We were playing 4-2-3-1 when we signed him, but we altered because we weren’t getting the results we wanted and we needed an extra center back to provide some physicality and a different style of play.
“We made a shift that, in theory, didn’t work for him, but there were times when he was successful and scored goals while playing as a wing-back.
“He desired to play more often. If someone wants to do that, I don’t mind at all. I can attest from my experience that playing football is a fleeting job.
“It seems like he hasn’t started many games thus far, and their 3-5-2 formation isn’t the best for Kieran, but he will undoubtedly want to perform well. We all know what he is capable of, so he has nothing to prove to me or any of our followers.
“We wish him well and had no issues with him.”
Against Northampton Town at the weekend, Wanderers triumphed once more, but not without controversy regarding the caliber of their second-half display.
Evatt reckons his players have to be mentally strong if criticism comes their way.
“We can only control what we can control, become immune to that, almost,” he said.
“When it is positive we use it, thrive on it, but when it isn’t we stick to our guns, stay courageous, keep having the ball in tight areas and doing the things that make us a good team.
“Saturday was a strange one. I didn’t really understand the reaction over the last 15-20 minutes or think we were in any doubt of not winning the game but everyone just wants to win, the fans more than anyone, and we’re doing our best to deliver that for them.
“They have been magnificent this season and I’m sure they will be out there in number at Wycombe and Charlton, two very long journeys, but hopefully we can perform like we did Saturday – especially the first half – and pick up more points.”
Leave a Reply