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Ian Evatt admits it has felt like more than a week without goals at Wanderers.
After watching his side draw a third successive blank on a frustrating afternoon against Barnsley, the Bolton boss refused to over-react.
A seventh clean sheet of the season was rarely threatened, even though the Tykes came close to snatching an undeserved victory at the bitter end with a James Norwood header.
Wanderers had chances fall to Dion Charles, George Thomason and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson but were unable to give themselves an advantage, allowing the visitors to slow the game down and scrap their way to a point.
“I was frustrated – but there are so many things to be positive about,” said Evatt, who cut an irate figure in the second half as Barnsley’s time-wasting continued.
“That is a team that has just come down from the Championship and basically they have come and paid us the ultimate respect, sacrificed everything they have been doing, and kept men behind the ball, trying to frustrated and disrupt. We have to take positives and compliments from that.
“Against that type of low block and with so many men behind the ball it is difficult to create any clean cut chances but we did have two really good ones that we didn’t take.
“It is the way it is going at the moment, the lack of goals over the last week – and it is only a week. I just said to the lads that it feels like a long time and a week in football sometimes is, but there are so many positives from what we have done there. That team also beat Sheffield Wednesday comfortably at Hillsborough and we completely dominated the game. There was no ambition for them to win the game and that speaks volume for what we are doing.”
Asked what needs to change, Evatt could at least see the funny side of what has been an agonising 10 days in front of goal.
“We need a break. Even at the end, the one at the back post, we just wanted it to hit Dion Charles in the ball-sack and go in, break the cycle. I don’t know if I can say that? Maybe use the technical term? We need one to go in off his scrotum.
“It is easy to point the finger at things that are going wrong but once we click at the top end of the pitch we will be a really good team.”
Wanderers have failed to score against Cheltenham, Forest Green and now Barnsley – but Evatt is trying to keep a lid on the concern, which was quite audible by the final whistle.
“It is almost chicken and egg scenario,” he said. “You don’t want to make too much of an issue out of it because it is only a week, only three games, and I don’t want them to become panicky or desperate, over-think things.
“We are doing so much right against the ball and our record speaks volumes. Our build phase and the amount of final third entries is excellent but it is just that last bit of detail that has been lacking.”
Wanderers continue to boast the meanest defence in the league, conceding just eight goals in their first 13 games.
Evatt believes it can be the basis for improvement.
“Normally when you see that it is teams who sacrifice the ball, stay behind it, compact, but we are the complete opposite, we are attacking and expansive and control the game with possession. The opposition obviously can’t score if we have got the ball.
“The way we press from front to back is excellent, the way we counter-press is excellent, and it is a whole team thing – not just the back four or five. It has been excellent.”
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