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Ian Evatt is expecting his second trip to Atherton Colls to be much louder than the first.
A year ago, the Wanderers boss watched his first game in charge at the Skuna Stadium, with no fans allowed inside the stadium and a handful of trialists in his team.
Tonight’s game is a sell-out, with hundreds of Bolton supporters expected to watch their team in action – many for the first time in more than a year.
Evatt cannot wait to sample what is usually a noisy and jovial atmosphere in what has become a traditional pre-season outing with the Northern Premier League club and believes it will help condition his players for League One.
“Pre-season games are going to be important this year because in a weird and strange kind of way, the players have got used to playing without supporters,” he said.
“When there are fans there, it is a different pressure. You make different decisions.
"Would you take that risk if you’re getting stick from the fans and you gave your last pass away and got a bit of stick? Are you going to take that risk with your next pass?
“The players have to get used to playing under that pressure again, so I’m pleased that fans are going to be there in pre-season. I can’t wait to see more of them and I think there will be even more than we saw at Longridge.”
Evatt was generally pleased with Bolton’s first pre-season outing on Saturday but hopes to see some signs of progress against Colls.
“I’ll hopefully see another step forward again but we’re happy with where we’re at,” he said.
“Obviously (on Saturday) it looked frustrating at times and a lot like last season where we’re creating chance after chance after chance and not being clinical, but at least we’re creating the chances and I just hope that once the sharpness comes into their legs we start to see the fruits of what we’re doing tee to green, so to speak.”
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