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Ian Evatt sat his players down after defeat against Grimsby Town and warned: ‘Don’t dare let your heads drop!’
Beaten at Blundell Park but still in control of their own automatic promotion destiny, Wanderers face a crucial double-header this week.
Play-off chasers Carlisle United visit the UniBol tomorrow evening before the Whites head to fourth-placed Morecambe on Saturday.
Evatt has now challenged his players to produce an immediate response as the League Two battle builds to an exciting climax.
“I told the players that from day one, minute one, this season has not been easy for any of us,” the manager said. “For anyone that thought we were just going to cruise over the line with no difficulty, I think they were very much mistaken.
“We are going to have to fight for it. We are going to have to roll our sleeves up. We are going to have to run the hard yards. And that starts on Tuesday against Carlisle.”
Evatt admits one aspect of his side’s general play that can dramatically improve is from attacking set pieces.
Wanderers have scored just seven goals from free-kicks and corners this season – representing a divisional low of 13.4 per cent of their entire total.
Carlisle, by comparison, have scored a high of 21 goals from set plays this season, representing 38 per cent of their overall haul.
Asked if they are becoming a concern, Evatt added: “They are not good enough and it is frustrating.
“Every set piece that comes in our box, a lot of opponents look a threat. We then have opportunities don’t make the most of it.
“It is not like we don’t work on it. We just need to be better at it and maybe we are lacking a bit of belief.
“Having said that, the way we create chances from open play is excellent and when you’re playing on a surface like this, it’s easier being Grimsby than Bolton Wanderers with the way they play, it simplifies their game and we have to be extremely precise, take extreme care because of the pitch, take more touches than we normally would have to, which slows us down.
“We created a lot of chances in that game from open play but we didn’t take them and that has to improve too.”
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Beaten at Blundell Park but still in control of their own automatic promotion destiny, Wanderers face a crucial double-header this week.
Play-off chasers Carlisle United visit the UniBol tomorrow evening before the Whites head to fourth-placed Morecambe on Saturday.
Evatt has now challenged his players to produce an immediate response as the League Two battle builds to an exciting climax.
“I told the players that from day one, minute one, this season has not been easy for any of us,” the manager said. “For anyone that thought we were just going to cruise over the line with no difficulty, I think they were very much mistaken.
“We are going to have to fight for it. We are going to have to roll our sleeves up. We are going to have to run the hard yards. And that starts on Tuesday against Carlisle.”
Evatt admits one aspect of his side’s general play that can dramatically improve is from attacking set pieces.
Wanderers have scored just seven goals from free-kicks and corners this season – representing a divisional low of 13.4 per cent of their entire total.
Carlisle, by comparison, have scored a high of 21 goals from set plays this season, representing 38 per cent of their overall haul.
Asked if they are becoming a concern, Evatt added: “They are not good enough and it is frustrating.
“Every set piece that comes in our box, a lot of opponents look a threat. We then have opportunities don’t make the most of it.
“It is not like we don’t work on it. We just need to be better at it and maybe we are lacking a bit of belief.
“Having said that, the way we create chances from open play is excellent and when you’re playing on a surface like this, it’s easier being Grimsby than Bolton Wanderers with the way they play, it simplifies their game and we have to be extremely precise, take extreme care because of the pitch, take more touches than we normally would have to, which slows us down.
“We created a lot of chances in that game from open play but we didn’t take them and that has to improve too.”
Source