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Ian Evatt has challenged his Wanderers not to be content with promotion – but to aim for the League Two championship.
With five games to go, Bolton have a four-point cushion in third spot and look in good shape for an immediate return to League One.
But Evatt reckons his players are aiming even higher and as they set off to face Grimsby Town tomorrow, he believes first place should be the collective aim.
“People keep asking me about feeling pressure but all I see from my group, all I hear from them, is that we want number one,” he told The Bolton News.
“Yes, we want to be promoted. But we also want to win this division.
“To give ourselves the best chance of doing that we need another amazing run of form from here on in, starting at Grimsby.
“Why can’t we have that aim now? We have an amazing chance – a point off second place and two off the top with five games to go.
“We are the team in form, the team with a huge amount of confidence and belief, a team that has come together over the course of a whole season and who are backed by a massive number of amazing fans. Why can’t we have that belief that we can do it?
“The changing room on Tuesday was absolutely bouncing after the game, but they also know that we’ve still got a job to do and by no means is this job finished. Yes, we’re in an auto place, but we’re not first – I want us to be first. That’s what I want for us, that’s what I want for the players.
“Promotion is the aim and the ambition, but for this season to be remembered the way I’d like it to be remembered, I have a massive determination, as do the players, to finish first.
“There are times this season it has looked unlikely. That isn’t the case now.
“It might not pan out but we will be giving it our best shot. We will leave it all out there.”
Wanderers have completely turned their season around since the start of February, when they sat in 20th position and go to Blundell Park as one of the country’s form teams, with just one defeat in 17 outings.
“There are five games to go but it seems we have timed this right,” he said.
“I am no prophet but I’d said earlier in the season that it was more important how we finished than how we started.
“This is the business end of the season and when it really matters. I do feel like we are in the right place at the right time but it will only be a success if we complete the job.”
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With five games to go, Bolton have a four-point cushion in third spot and look in good shape for an immediate return to League One.
But Evatt reckons his players are aiming even higher and as they set off to face Grimsby Town tomorrow, he believes first place should be the collective aim.
“People keep asking me about feeling pressure but all I see from my group, all I hear from them, is that we want number one,” he told The Bolton News.
“Yes, we want to be promoted. But we also want to win this division.
“To give ourselves the best chance of doing that we need another amazing run of form from here on in, starting at Grimsby.
“Why can’t we have that aim now? We have an amazing chance – a point off second place and two off the top with five games to go.
“We are the team in form, the team with a huge amount of confidence and belief, a team that has come together over the course of a whole season and who are backed by a massive number of amazing fans. Why can’t we have that belief that we can do it?
“The changing room on Tuesday was absolutely bouncing after the game, but they also know that we’ve still got a job to do and by no means is this job finished. Yes, we’re in an auto place, but we’re not first – I want us to be first. That’s what I want for us, that’s what I want for the players.
“Promotion is the aim and the ambition, but for this season to be remembered the way I’d like it to be remembered, I have a massive determination, as do the players, to finish first.
“There are times this season it has looked unlikely. That isn’t the case now.
“It might not pan out but we will be giving it our best shot. We will leave it all out there.”
Wanderers have completely turned their season around since the start of February, when they sat in 20th position and go to Blundell Park as one of the country’s form teams, with just one defeat in 17 outings.
“There are five games to go but it seems we have timed this right,” he said.
“I am no prophet but I’d said earlier in the season that it was more important how we finished than how we started.
“This is the business end of the season and when it really matters. I do feel like we are in the right place at the right time but it will only be a success if we complete the job.”
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