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Ian Evatt reckons he can gauge how well Wanderers are playing by the form of his centre-backs.
A defender in his own playing days, the Bolton boss hopes for more of the same resolution against Morecambe tonight as was shown in his side's last outing against Leyton Orient.
On that occasion, Ricardo Santos and Alex Baptiste paired together to see out a worthy victory but with Ryan Delaney back fit and free from suspension and Reiss Greenidge also pushing for a recall there is a big decision to be made before kick-off.
Evatt accepts he will have to rotate in most positions with 10 games to be played in the next five weeks, but after a season of indifferent performances at the back he is keen to see someone makes themselves indispensable.
"We'll have to take it game by game," he said. "We’ll monitor the fitness levels and the physical load on the players and we’ll try and give them the rest and recuperation they need in between fixtures.
"In terms of Rico (Santos) and Baps (Baptiste), Rico for the majority of the season has been excellent and Baps has been, probably if you ask him he’d say he’s been inconsistent, but at times he’s been a massive part of it and played really well.
"I thought he was probably man of the match against Leyton Orient and he’s a very good experienced player that I trust.
"If your two centre halves are playing well, then primarily your team is playing well, because if gives you a foundation to move forward from and attack, and all of sudden we’ve got some really, really exciting attacking players, so if we can get that safety box, as I call it, between two centre backs and two midfield players doing the ugly side of the game really well, then we have the attacking prowess to go and hurt any opposition.”
Evatt's transfer dealings on deadline day have boosted his attacking options to the point where he feels he now has an embarrassment of riches.
“We’ve got a board up with everyone’s names and positions at the training ground, and when I look at that board in those positions, if I was an opposition manager I’d be worried," he said.
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A defender in his own playing days, the Bolton boss hopes for more of the same resolution against Morecambe tonight as was shown in his side's last outing against Leyton Orient.
On that occasion, Ricardo Santos and Alex Baptiste paired together to see out a worthy victory but with Ryan Delaney back fit and free from suspension and Reiss Greenidge also pushing for a recall there is a big decision to be made before kick-off.
Evatt accepts he will have to rotate in most positions with 10 games to be played in the next five weeks, but after a season of indifferent performances at the back he is keen to see someone makes themselves indispensable.
"We'll have to take it game by game," he said. "We’ll monitor the fitness levels and the physical load on the players and we’ll try and give them the rest and recuperation they need in between fixtures.
"In terms of Rico (Santos) and Baps (Baptiste), Rico for the majority of the season has been excellent and Baps has been, probably if you ask him he’d say he’s been inconsistent, but at times he’s been a massive part of it and played really well.
"I thought he was probably man of the match against Leyton Orient and he’s a very good experienced player that I trust.
"If your two centre halves are playing well, then primarily your team is playing well, because if gives you a foundation to move forward from and attack, and all of sudden we’ve got some really, really exciting attacking players, so if we can get that safety box, as I call it, between two centre backs and two midfield players doing the ugly side of the game really well, then we have the attacking prowess to go and hurt any opposition.”
Evatt's transfer dealings on deadline day have boosted his attacking options to the point where he feels he now has an embarrassment of riches.
“We’ve got a board up with everyone’s names and positions at the training ground, and when I look at that board in those positions, if I was an opposition manager I’d be worried," he said.
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