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Ian Evatt insists Saturday’s disastrous performance against Harrogate was not the end of the road for Marcus Maddison at Wanderers.
The on-loan playmaker was brought in for his first start in 10 matches but only lasted until half time, when he was brought off for George Thomason.
The substitution proved a game-changer as Thomason helped the Whites overturn a 1-0 half-time deficit to take three points and climb back into the automatic promotion places.
Maddison has started just four times since his move from Charlton Athletic and Evatt conceded after the final whistle that he had “got it wrong” on team selection.
“To be fair to Marcus, when the opposition are playing with such intensity and you have not been playing regular football, that pace of game can catch you out, and I thought it caught him out first half,” explained the Bolton boss. “But to be fair, the whole team were poor and the whole team were off it and it was just unfortunately for him we took him off and made the change for George.
“Marcus is obviously down and lacks a bit of confidence at the moment, but we’ll rally round him and make sure he understands that he’s still got a part to play.”
Wanderers have six games remaining and travel to ninth-placed Salford City on Tuesday night.
Evatt insists Maddison will not be abandoned – and that there is still an occasion during the run-in where Bolton will see the best of him.
“I think so, I think there will be,” he said. “I think the last couple of games he has come off the bench he has made positive impacts. It was just today, the speed of the game probably caught him out, but it caught a few out, really. He wasn’t the only one.
“Luckily for us we had a half-time and managed to change things round and got the win we deserved.”
Once again, results around Wanderers in League Two were kind.
Cambridge United, Forest Green, Tranmere Rovers and Morecambe all dropped points, which leaves Bolton two points clear in third spot.
Evatt wants his players to maintain focus on their own task at hand – but accepts that racing down the tunnel to look at how the promotion rivals have got on is now standard.
“Obviously it’s human nature and we all do it, the lads are straight on the phones looking at results and you can’t stop that and take that away from them, that excitement,” he said.
“But providing we have focus day to day, whenever we’re on the grass at the training ground, whenever we’re on the grass here or away from home, providing we’ve got that focus on the job at hand, the here and now, and not what what we can’t control, that’s the most important thing.”
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The on-loan playmaker was brought in for his first start in 10 matches but only lasted until half time, when he was brought off for George Thomason.
The substitution proved a game-changer as Thomason helped the Whites overturn a 1-0 half-time deficit to take three points and climb back into the automatic promotion places.
Maddison has started just four times since his move from Charlton Athletic and Evatt conceded after the final whistle that he had “got it wrong” on team selection.
“To be fair to Marcus, when the opposition are playing with such intensity and you have not been playing regular football, that pace of game can catch you out, and I thought it caught him out first half,” explained the Bolton boss. “But to be fair, the whole team were poor and the whole team were off it and it was just unfortunately for him we took him off and made the change for George.
“Marcus is obviously down and lacks a bit of confidence at the moment, but we’ll rally round him and make sure he understands that he’s still got a part to play.”
Wanderers have six games remaining and travel to ninth-placed Salford City on Tuesday night.
Evatt insists Maddison will not be abandoned – and that there is still an occasion during the run-in where Bolton will see the best of him.
“I think so, I think there will be,” he said. “I think the last couple of games he has come off the bench he has made positive impacts. It was just today, the speed of the game probably caught him out, but it caught a few out, really. He wasn’t the only one.
“Luckily for us we had a half-time and managed to change things round and got the win we deserved.”
Once again, results around Wanderers in League Two were kind.
Cambridge United, Forest Green, Tranmere Rovers and Morecambe all dropped points, which leaves Bolton two points clear in third spot.
Evatt wants his players to maintain focus on their own task at hand – but accepts that racing down the tunnel to look at how the promotion rivals have got on is now standard.
“Obviously it’s human nature and we all do it, the lads are straight on the phones looking at results and you can’t stop that and take that away from them, that excitement,” he said.
“But providing we have focus day to day, whenever we’re on the grass at the training ground, whenever we’re on the grass here or away from home, providing we’ve got that focus on the job at hand, the here and now, and not what what we can’t control, that’s the most important thing.”
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