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'Not about the past' - Evatt urges focus as Trafford heads back to Accrington

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karlypants

karlypants
Nat Lofthouse
Nat Lofthouse

'Not about the past' - Evatt urges focus as Trafford heads back to Accrington 16065161

James Trafford has been advised to leave the past in the past as he returns to Accrington for the first time on Saturday.

The in-form keeper goes back to the Crown Ground as part of League One's meanest defence and with data from Statsbomb showing him as the joint-best shot-stopper in the whole EFL.

Trafford spent a short time on loan with Accrington last season but struggled to gain the same consistency he has found with the Whites.

But Ian Evatt will be instructing the Manchester City youngster to keep his head in the here-and-now.

"I don't think he had a good time there, nobody can deny that fact. But it does happen in football sometimes, you can go places and it doesn't click for you, it is a case of moving on and going somewhere else," said the Bolton boss.

"It has been a great bit of fortune for us both - he has been great for Bolton Wanderers but Bolton Wanderers has also been very good for him too, and sometimes you can forget that fact.

"We were there for him at the right time and he has been able to do exceptionally well.

"Now it is about him still playing well for us, not the past, or going there with any point to prove, it is about focusing on his game and doing what is right for the team, what we require him to do.

"He can't worry about anything else. We know he is a fantastic goalkeeper and has nothing to prove to anyone."

With a record of just eight goals conceded in their opening 13 games, no Bolton team in history has ever managed fewer at this stage of the season.

Evatt would ideally like to keep it that way, and while he does have to find balance and improve attacking returns if a promotion push is going to be sustained, he says his defensive unit must keep their concentration and not allow any positive press to go to their heads.

"It is a really big challenge for anyone - goalkeepers, back three, back five, whatever," he said. "When you are starting to get praise, people talking about your defensive record in positive terms, it is easy to think you have cracked it. Then you take your foot off the gas.

"But that is not the case. It gets even harder. We have to keep this going and make sure we continue to concede as few goals as possible in the future."

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