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Tonight's final Papa Johns Trophy game carries a warning label for Wanderers as they seek to progress to the knockout stages and end a mini goal drought.
Victory against Leeds United’s Under-21 team would guarantee a place in the last 32 but Ian Evatt has issued a note of caution despite the visitors’ relative lack of experience.
Leeds beat Tranmere 5-3 in their opening group game and are likely to arrive at the University of Bolton Stadium with a strong squad boasting players such as Joe Geldhart and Wilfried Gnonto who have turned out in the Premier League and even Champions League.
Evatt would ideally look towards the fixture as a confidence booster for his attacking players, who have drawn a blank in their last three league outings. But he maintains that Leeds, above all the other top-flight clubs allowed to carry second string sides in the Papa Johns, are not a straightforward prospect.
“They tend to put three or four first team players into their young group, so I don’t know if we can look at it that way,” he said, asked if a midweek cup game could help coax goals out of Dion Charles, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Co. “I think out of all the young teams that enter this competition, they’re probably the most senior group and they look to attack and progress.
“I think it is going to be a tough game for us. It will be a difficult game but we will pay them huge respect and hopefully put an end to this mini drought that we are on and start scoring goals again.”
Wanderers have given the Papa Johns Trophy some credence in Evatt’s three seasons at the club, and last year’s Third Round defeat at League Two Hartlepool United hit home especially hard, given the strength of the team named on the night.
While changes are expected – experienced heads such as Josh Sheehan and Lloyd Isgrove among the names confirmed by the Bolton boss – he is reluctant to throw young players into his team for the sake of giving them game time.
The competition is not only a route to a Wembley final but also potentially lucrative, which has always shaped his logic.
“I’m all for trying to develop young players and young talent in this country because for too long, we’ve been behind the ball with that in terms of other countries around the world and that’s affected our national team,” he said.
“I think we’ve got that balance right of late and we’ve got a lot and a healthy group of young players coming through from the under-17s that won the World Cup to now getting into the first team and the first team having some success in big competitions.
“But I do think it is almost managers make so many changes in these competitions because it’s almost like ‘we’ll put the kids in there and try to develop them’. But it’s a serious competition.
“Any chance of playing at Wembley, every player and club should take it because it’s a great experience. I managed to do it myself a few times, so it’s trying to find that balance and trade-off between development and the seriousness and integrity of the competition and it’s tough.”
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