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Dapo Afolayan was told to take his rough treatment at Cheltenham Town as a back-handed compliment.
The Wanderers winger was fouled twice as many times as anyone else on the pitch at Whaddon Road as the Robins struggled to keep him under control in Saturday’s 2-1 win.
Afolayan was disappointed that he did not get to convert the penalty he earned by drawing a rash challenge from Lewis Freestone in the 76th minute – with Amadou Bakayoko taking the ball and slotting in his 13th of the season, bringing him one goal away in the race for top scorer.
But Evatt urged the former West Ham man to put his frustration to one side on a day where he looked back to his dazzling best.
“I said to him that your performance was outstanding,” said the Bolton manager after the game. “I said I know you’re disappointed not to take the penalty, but their players targeted you Dapo because you’re a good player and you’re causing them problems.
“He has to remember that. He’s a great kid. Sometimes he’s a bit misunderstood, but he just wants to win, he cares. He doesn’t always channel that the right way sometimes but he’s still learning. He’s a really talented player and I thought he was absolutely brilliant.”
Bakayoko’s penalty means this is the first season since 2000/01 that Bolton have had two players who have scored more than a dozen goals in a single season.
Michael Ricketts (24) and Dean Holdsworth (15) were the last pair to manage it in the year Sam Allardyce’s side reached the Premier League.
Evatt feels his attacking options – who have enjoyed mixed fortunes in front of goal in the last few weeks – have all played their part.
“I’m delighted with all the forward players, absolutely all of them,” he said. “Dion Charles is having a rough time at the moment but the work ethic that he gives the team, the movement, the runs, he doesn’t give centre halves a minute, that still has a value as well. He’ll score goals for us.
“Jon’s been playing fantastically well. We’ve got Kacha and Baka keeps scoring, Dapo is outstanding. We’ve got a really good group of forward players and they’re all going to flit in and out of form as the season goes on, but the most important thing is they’re together, they support each other and they give us performances like they have done today.”
Cheltenham’s Alfie May has topped 20 goals this season but was kept relatively quiet by a Wanderers side which improved as the game wore on.
“But for one instance in the first half where James Trafford made an excellent save, I thought we were really comfortable,” Evatt added “Second half in particular, I thought we controlled the game superbly well. They offered very little, it was more us and waves of attack and we deserved the lead and deserved to extend it probably as well.”
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