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The potency of Wanderers’ attack has come under scrutiny in some quarters, even in the midst of a promotion battle, but Ian Evatt refuses to allow it to dominate the agenda in the build up to a crucial game at Crawley.
While Eoin Doyle’s 18 goal haul represents the best tally for any Bolton striker since Michael Ricketts in 2001, those around him have come in for criticism of late for not weighing in.
Wanderers’ last two goals came from full-backs, Gethin Jones and Ben Jackson, and the failure to turn their first-half dominance against Exeter City into a bigger lead ended up costing dearly.
The stats suggest there will be chances at Crawley, a side which concede more shots on goal per game than anyone else, with the exception of Oldham Athletic.
“That’s good for a start,” smiled Evatt. “Everyone keeps telling me that we don’t take our chances but funnily enough in order to win games you have to take one - and we have been winning a lot of games.
“Let’s concentrate on the complete plan, with the ball, without the ball, make sure we implement that the best we can.
“Forget about the opposition, Crawley turning up, what Morecambe, Bradford, Grismby and Cambridge United are doing, concentrate on ourselves and being as good as we can be.”
Wanderers have enjoyed being on the TV this season, beating Salford and Forest Green in their two Sky Sports outings to date.
The cameras will be on them once again on Saturday and Evatt is under no illusion that despite having nothing particular to play for in the table, his hosts will be eager to seize the spotlight.
“I think it is going to be a really challenging and tough game,” he said.
“It is on Sky, so it adds a bit of extra pressure and spice, and I don’t think anyone would welcome celebrations from opposition on their home pitch so that is motivation for Crawley.
“We have to make sure we respect that but play better than we did on Saturday.”
Wanderers have usually reserved their best performances for the biggest tests this season - but last week looked unusually uncomfortable under the pressure.
Evatt admits there will be a few butterflies in the stomach before kick-off at Crawley but he feels the experience of last weekend might end up counting in his players' favour.
"Nerves aren’t necessarily a bad thing, it shows you care first and foremost and then it’s just about how you channel those nerves," he said. "Second half after they got a very early goal last week, we didn’t channel our nerves in the correct manner and we need to make sure we do that this weekend.
"The position is slightly different this week. We didn’t have to win last week - this time we do.
"We know what we’ve got to do. We didn’t perform to our usual standards second half last week and there are a number of reasons behind that. We’ve identified it, we’ve spoken about it and we’re fully focused on Saturday.
"It has been business as usual. We’ve been in all week and trained very well."
Source
While Eoin Doyle’s 18 goal haul represents the best tally for any Bolton striker since Michael Ricketts in 2001, those around him have come in for criticism of late for not weighing in.
Wanderers’ last two goals came from full-backs, Gethin Jones and Ben Jackson, and the failure to turn their first-half dominance against Exeter City into a bigger lead ended up costing dearly.
The stats suggest there will be chances at Crawley, a side which concede more shots on goal per game than anyone else, with the exception of Oldham Athletic.
“That’s good for a start,” smiled Evatt. “Everyone keeps telling me that we don’t take our chances but funnily enough in order to win games you have to take one - and we have been winning a lot of games.
“Let’s concentrate on the complete plan, with the ball, without the ball, make sure we implement that the best we can.
“Forget about the opposition, Crawley turning up, what Morecambe, Bradford, Grismby and Cambridge United are doing, concentrate on ourselves and being as good as we can be.”
Wanderers have enjoyed being on the TV this season, beating Salford and Forest Green in their two Sky Sports outings to date.
The cameras will be on them once again on Saturday and Evatt is under no illusion that despite having nothing particular to play for in the table, his hosts will be eager to seize the spotlight.
“I think it is going to be a really challenging and tough game,” he said.
“It is on Sky, so it adds a bit of extra pressure and spice, and I don’t think anyone would welcome celebrations from opposition on their home pitch so that is motivation for Crawley.
“We have to make sure we respect that but play better than we did on Saturday.”
Wanderers have usually reserved their best performances for the biggest tests this season - but last week looked unusually uncomfortable under the pressure.
Evatt admits there will be a few butterflies in the stomach before kick-off at Crawley but he feels the experience of last weekend might end up counting in his players' favour.
"Nerves aren’t necessarily a bad thing, it shows you care first and foremost and then it’s just about how you channel those nerves," he said. "Second half after they got a very early goal last week, we didn’t channel our nerves in the correct manner and we need to make sure we do that this weekend.
"The position is slightly different this week. We didn’t have to win last week - this time we do.
"We know what we’ve got to do. We didn’t perform to our usual standards second half last week and there are a number of reasons behind that. We’ve identified it, we’ve spoken about it and we’re fully focused on Saturday.
"It has been business as usual. We’ve been in all week and trained very well."
Source