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Ian Evatt says he won’t mope around after missing out on a couple of his top targets this summer.
Speaking from the club’s training camp in the Algarve, the Bolton boss confirmed that he has pulled out of transfers in the past few weeks after refusing to pay over the odds.
Evatt maintains there is cash available for new signings, and a loan deal for Liverpool’s Conor Bradley is expected to be sealed soon.
But with just one new signing – Jack Iredale – in the group at present, Evatt says he will not rush with his search for replacements.
“We signed heavily in January, so there was never going to be that huge amount of maintenance we had to do in previous transfer windows,” he told us.
“We are improving all the time and it has been a gradual process. Yes, Jack is the only player we have signed from a different club but we have Traff (James Trafford) returning, Rico (Ricardo Santos) – who is as important as any signing, renegotiating his contract.
“Have we got every number one target in other positions? No. But that is the reality of football.
“I have said many times, we are never going to try and out-spend our rivals or put the club into risk or doubt any more. We value every player we look at and if the valuation increases beyond where it should be then we will walk away from deals.
“I am never going to put this club at risk because it is not how we do things. We are smart, strategic, and we are going to be patient in this window.
“We had all our ducks in a row and we thought we were going to get who we wanted but things change in football and we have to be able to adapt and overcome.”
A total of 23 players have been booked into the Portugal base, which will also be used by the likes of Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa this summer.
Evatt had used the same facility as a player in his days at Blackpool and believes the time spent together will be advantageous to the new League One campaign.
“I think it is important that the players get taken out of their comfort zones,” he said.
“It is good for me to have them 24-seven in the first week of pre-season, no distraction. We can get lots of work into them.
“Players have been having three or four sessions a day. It is intense and hard work but they are together and there is a culture created, which comes from what we did last season.
“It is important that we get as much work into them as physically possible and then come back to hit the ground running with the friendlies. That was always the plan.
“We are really fortunate that we have the support of the board and are able to come to such a fantastic place as this. It is immaculate, and I was fortunate to come here as a player before and everything from the food to the pitches, the gym, the hotel itself, is first class. It is something we are really enjoying doing.
“We are really respectful of it – and many of us have been at clubs where we have been taken away before and we have seen the benefits of it.
“But some of the lads have never been on anything like this before, so for them to come and see that we are investing in them as a group and a team, and I think we will really reap the rewards.”
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