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Ian Evatt believes Josh Sheehan can thrive now that he is out of the spotlight.
The Wanderers boss feels his summer signing is now starting to settle well after a summer move from Newport County, where he had been front and centre in the Welsh club’s midfield plans. Voted into the League Two team of the season and capped twice by his country last season, Sheehan has been challenged to adapt his game at Bolton, where he will be part of a very different midfield.
“That area of the pitch is extremely competitive for us,” Evatt said. “We’ve got some really, really good players in that area, but Josh is still getting used to us and what we require and do.
“He’s a very talented footballer, there’s no two ways about it, and he’s really intelligent. It’s just about using that intelligence and getting him in the right positions on the ball because at Newport it was all about him and him building attacks, he was more or less told to follow the ball around and get on the ball as much as possible.
“In our team, because everyone is equally competent with the ball, he doesn’t need to hunt it as much, so sometimes the space and where we need him is away from the ball in pockets of space, and then eventually the ball will find him in better areas of the pitch.
“It is still that thing we are working on but he is getting used to it and that was a huge improvement on Tuesday (against Preston), I think he played really well.”
Sheehan may have to take a back seat at Barrow today as Evatt rotates the side that started against Preston. But the 26-year-old has shown already in pre-season that his passing range could be a valuable weapon for the Whites in League One.
Evatt is keen to see his midfield adapt better to the type of midfield press adopted by opponents, choosing a more direct approach if one is needed.
And he feels Sheehan has shown good signs of football intelligence to be able to pull strings in the middle of the park.
“Josh is one of those players that’s brave, I’m not talking about putting his foot or head in where it hurts, but brave in receiving the ball in tight areas and taking risks with his passing,” he said. “He has got a fantastic range of passing, long and short, and we need that.
"It is not always about tiki taka football, it is about recognising what the game is giving you and recognising where the space is. If that means playing slightly longer then we should do that.
“For instance, the first 10 minutes against Preston on Tuesday, they went on a high press and pushed their wing-backs right onto our full-backs, but left themselves three for three at the back.
“If they leave three for three, we’ve now got Baka (Amadou Bakyoko) who is physically able to dominate centre backs and we can play slightly longer.
“Once you gain success from that and they all of sudden get a bit scared and drop off, that’s the time to build and start playing through the opposition. It is about recognising what the opposition are doing, where the space is and then playing accordingly, play through or play over, it doesn't make a difference. It is about doing the right thing for the team to gain success.”
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