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Ian Evatt believes he now has enough attacking flexibility to do some damage in League One.
The Wanderers boss has added Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Dion Charles to his front line in the January transfer window and extended the loan of Xav Amaechi from Hamburg.
He has also added dynamic full-back Marlon Fossey and the creative Aaron Morley to the squad and has designs on signing Gillingham’s Kyle Demspey before Monday’s deadline.
After being so severely restricted in December because of illness and injuries, Evatt now feels he has more tactical freedom. And though he has played a variation of the 3-5-2 in the last two victorious games against Ipswich and Shrewsbury, he has not ruled out switching formation for the visit of Sunderland this weekend.
“The philosophy will always remain the same but we now have two or three ways of playing,” he said. “We want to build possession from the back, be open, expansive and attacking. But we can do that by playing with three or four at the back, we can go with two strikers or play three up front.
“We can play with two midfield players, two 10s, a double pivot and one 10, one pivot and two number eights.
“We have so many options now but can also keep teams guessing.”
Wanderers switched system on Saturday against Shrewsbury after struggling to break down their hosts in the first half.
And the ability to change in-game is something Evatt is equally excited about.
“We haven’t been able to do that before,” he said, reviewing his options on the bench at the weekend. “The players we have signed have that fluidity about them, they can play in different positions.
“We knew it would be a challenging period before Christmas but I feel like we are thought it now, so I want us to keep our feet on the floor and keep working hard.
“We are becoming a team which is hard to beat, that is really important, and we can add all the fine details as we go along.”
With competition for starting places as high as it has been all season, and Amaechi, Elias Kachunga and Lloyd Isgrove also closing in on a return to the first team, Evatt wants his players to bring the best out of each other.
While he may face some difficult choices on the team-sheet, the Bolton boss has warned his players that nobody can become comfortable.
“We showed them some footage of what I expect from them and that they have to become their own little group within the squad,” he said of his attack.
“They have to support each other, speak to each other. I want them to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and what we want from them.
“It looks a really strong group but there are only two, possibly three, who can play at any one time so there will be people who are disappointed. Then it becomes about how they support each other.
“They can be made at me when they are not playing. I’m OK with that.
“It is tough being a manager but provided they support each other in the right way, support the group, then that is the most important thing.”
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