IAN Evatt has sent a strong warning to anyone who happens to be listening in League One: ‘Don’t write us off yet!’
Wanderers had to swallow their medicine over the past few days knowing that a six-point deficit had been opened up at the top of the table after being defeated by Portsmouth in front of a national audience on Monday.
The Bolton bench dutifully noted and recorded the cheeky message that fans at Fratton Park sent to the away end, claiming they had “watched the champions.”
After giving his squad his feedback, Evatt focused on Saturday’s visit from Bristol Rovers, the start of what he hopes will be another successful run.
The Wanderers manager has asked the team’s supporters to contribute to the players’ positive attitude this weekend in an effort to prevent any hint of self-pity.
He told The Bolton News, “I think we can all step it up and make this an even more intense and intimidating atmosphere.” “We can’t lose sight of the fact that we are in a commanding position. Unless I’m missing something, I don’t believe the trophy was awarded following that Portsmouth match.
Every team in this division has a lot of football left to play. In addition, each of the other 23 managers has a plan in place and will be pursuing different objectives this season. That is something we must honour.
“But we are a very tough team to stop when my players are performing at their absolute best, so we will look to get back to that on Saturday,” the coach said.
Evatt believed that moving the game to a Monday night did benefit their hosts, citing the divisive atmosphere at Fratton Park. However, as Bolton looks to return to the Championship in the upcoming weeks and months, he would also be happy to see the volume levels rise on home ground.
“We have to create the same sort of thing here because it does help the players and they can respond from it too. From minute one if we can set that intense atmosphere, the players will start on the front foot and feed off that, this won’t 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,” he said. “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.”
Evatt believes that Bristol Rovers, who have just named Matt Taylor as their new manager, have a team that can contend for a spot in the top half of the table.
He remarked, “They brought in some quality players in the summer.” “This will undoubtedly be a difficult game for us, as they will undoubtedly be looking to impress the new manager and they had a strong performance in the cup last week.
However, I believe that this is more about us and our methods. The players are aware of the standards they have set and that Monday night’s performance wasn’t up to par, so they must now return to those levels.
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