The Wanderers boss has backed his skipper to respond positively after his dismissal in the first half for a professional foul on Aaron Collins.
Santos became only the second Bolton player in history to be sent off four times for the club, equalling the record set by goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.
And the incident, which happened with Wanderers a goal down, proved damaging as the visitors went on to double their lead and hold out for their first victory against Bolton since 1989.
Evatt feels Santos was well aware of the gravity of his error.
“He knows, I don’t need to speak to Rico,” stated the manager. “I don’t need to say anything; he understands his level and his standards, and today he fell short of them.” He is a fantastic player for us, and we will support him in his return.
“Will (Forrester) came on and did great. Second half we completely dominated, it looked like they were playing with 10 men. Great credit to the players but we have to start the game that way, with that energy, intensity and desire, that is when we are at our best. It just wasn’t there, the zest wasn’t there, and we have to get that back.”
Evatt said some of his players were nursing a “hangover” from defeat at Portsmouth earlier in the week, which contributed to their poor start to the game.
Though he had no argument against referee Carl Brook’s decision to send off Santos, he did take issue with the comparative lack of time added on at the end of the game.
But ultimately the Bolton boss knew his own side had not been up to scratch.
“It is a clear message to everyone, as I have said before, that when you dip below your standard you are going to get hurt, and we did in that first half,” he told reporters.
“We gave up two really, really bad goals due to individual errors that we haven’t been making.” Then there was the departure, which we had no problems about.
“I do have some complaints about some of the other fouls and decisions, especially about only five minutes of extra time – that is a million miles away from where we started the season.”
“With that many substitutions, and the fact that they were delaying and disrupting the game loads in the second half, it’s hard to believe there’s only five minutes left is a long way from that.
“Today was self-inflicted and we have to be better.”
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