After being defeated by Portsmouth in front of a national audience on Monday, Wanderers have had to take their medicine over the previous several days, knowing that a six-point gap at the top of the table has been opened up.
Fans at Fratton Park mocked the away crowd with a chant proclaiming that they had “watched the champions” – a sly message that was carefully noticed and logged on the Bolton bench.
Evatt has spoken to his players and has switched his attention to Saturday’s visit of Bristol Rovers, the first step in what he believes will be another winning streak.
The Wanderers boss wants to avoid any sign of self-pity and has called on the club’s fans to help lift the players’ mood this weekend.
“I think we can all step it up and make this an even more intense and intimidating atmosphere,” he told The Bolton News. “We mustn’t forget that we are in a really strong position and unless I’m mistaken, I don’t think the trophy was given out after that game at Portsmouth.
“There is a lot of football to be played for every team in this division, there are 23 other managers that will have their own ambitions and goals this season and every one of them has a plan. We have to respect that.
“But I know when my players are on their highest level, their very best, we are a very difficult team to stop, so we will look to get back to that on Saturday.”
Pointing to the partisan atmosphere at Fratton Park, Evatt felt the rescheduling of the game to a Monday night did play into their hosts’ strengths. But he would also happily see the volume levels rise on home turf in the weeks and months to come, as Bolton look to make a return to the Championship.
“From what I hear from the people down there, the local media were properly rallying the troops for Monday and made sure that atmosphere was incredibly intimidating and intense,” he went on to say.
“We need to do the same thing here because it helps the players and they can respond to it.” If we can create an intense atmosphere from the start, the players will be on the front foot and feed off of it; this will not be an easy place for anyone to play.
“I have talked to lots of people I trust in the game who were watching – from Premier League managers down to League One and Two, and they all agreed it was a perfect storm,” said the Premier League boss. “Monday night, under the lights, full house, tight pitch – everything complicates the way we play.” And if we want to progress, we have to get better at what we’re doing, and credit to them for finding a means to stop us.”
Bristol Rovers recently appointed Matt Taylor as their new manager and, in Evatt’s opinion, have a squad capable of competing in the top half of the table.
“They recruited some good players in the summer,” the coach stated. “I’m sure they’ll be out to impress the new manager, and they had a good cup result last week, so this will be a tough game for us, no doubt.”
“I think it’s more about us and how we approach it.” The players understand that it wasn’t good enough on Monday night, and they are aware of the standards they have established, so it is now a matter of returning to those levels.”
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