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Ian Evatt insists he can improve his side’s mid-table attacking returns to sustain a play-off push this season.
Whilst Wanderers did find late goals against Accrington and Burton, they appeared frustratingly blunt in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Oxford United.
Evatt’s men rank 14th out of 24 sides in League One on total shots per game (10.6) and 17th for shots on target (31.5 per cent) – and the Bolton boss admits those numbers must improve if they are to maintain their current course for the top six.
Dion Charles did get his first league goal from open play against Oxford but Evatt says there is plenty of room for improvement.
“We give them the messages, we have to back them to go and execute,” he said. “I’d agree, sometimes we shoot when we should pass and pass when we should shoot, and we’re getting that wrong at the moment. But we will get it right.
“There are loads of things that we can improve on, there are loads of things that need to be better, but we are in the top six at the moment and by my last count there are still 30 games left.
“Have we had progression from last season? Absolutely, if you look at the comparable league tables from this year and last, we are in a much better position, we know there is loads more to come, and what we’ll do is work really hard with the players to ensure that we improve.”
Wanderers have eight more points than they did last season after 16 games, they have also scored three and conceded 12 fewer goals.
Charles and Elias Kachunga have come in for particular scrutiny but Evatt believes there was a lack of service on Saturday against Oxford.
“I thought Dion was better today,” he said after the defeat. “He looked more like himself. The goal will do him the world of good. We back him to score goals, but I thought he looked a lot sharper.
“We didn’t use his strengths well enough. We played far too directly first half because they went so man for man, we didn’t show enough rotation or enough bravery to play through their press and took the easy option.
“That’s not his fault or Kacha’s. We just didn’t execute our plan well enough and sometimes that happens and you end up losing games. Well done to Oxford, they are a better team than what they have shown but we know we can be lots better than what we showed against them.” Wanderers will have to do without MJ Williams in their next league game against Cambridge United a week on Saturday after the midfielder picked up a fifth yellow card of the season against Oxford United.
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