Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt wants his players to be fully focused on Saturday’s FA Cup matchup with Harrogate Town rather than games further down the line, in an interview with The Bolton News.
Currently leading League One, Evatt’s team will participate in two cup competitions prior to starting their league campaign again. They’ll be full of confidence going into their encounter with Harrogate because they’ve won nine straight games without losing, but the manager has urged his team to concentrate on the task at hand and take each game as it comes.
This is partially because Bolton’s match against Portsmouth at the top of the table on December 11th, which has the potential to drastically change the League One standings, is approaching. There are still two games for Bolton to play before heading to Fratton Park, but that one in front of the TV cameras is probably their hardest assignment to date.
Following their encounter with Harrogate on Saturday, Evatt’s team will play the Bristol Street Motors Trophy at the Macron Stadium against Port Vale, another third-tier team. After defeating Plymouth Argyle 4-0 in the previous season’s championship game, Bolton is currently the holders of the trophy, and the manager hopes to see more success in the competition.
Changes are anticipated, but we won’t see two entirely different squads for their matches against Port Vale and Harrogate. However, Bolton has a deep enough roster to allow for some player rests, which is probably why they will be resting players ahead of their match against Portsmouth in at least one of the cup competitions.
Evatt, however, prefers to take each game as it comes and isn’t planning too far ahead. The manager stated as much to The Bolton News.
“Portsmouth isn’t there yet; Harrogate is our main priority,”
“We are treating them with the respect they so richly deserve
“Saturday is our main priority. That’s how we have to be; everything must be laser-focused and at full tilt. We have communicated to the players that we are not good enough to be able to let off the gas. We need to be on the correct side of the confidence and complacency line.
While complacency is common in the FA Cup and frequently leads to upsets, Evatt appears to prefer to give fans a cup run instead of being in that situation.
“We never forget
Evatt’s comments on complacency are a perfect summary of it. Even though promotion is the club’s ultimate goal for this season, they would still like to advance further in the cup competitions in order to increase revenue.
The players are undoubtedly already thinking about the big Portsmouth game. We should see a team full of confidence for their match against Portsmouth if they can advance to the next round of the FA Cup and the Bristol Street Motors Trophy. But losing one or both cup matches could be damaging to the players’ confidence, so Evatt needs to make the right decisions to maintain the team’s unbeaten streak and confidence.
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