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George Thomason is showing the type of mental strength Wanderers will need in a promotion fight, says Ian Evatt.
The youngster has been singled out by his manager for what he has brought to the Bolton midfield, most recently during the 2-1 win at Fleetwood.
Wanderers sit fifth in the table, having earned results at Highbury, MK Dons and Accrington – all grounds at which they were beaten last season.
And Evatt feels his team has started to show more of a grittier side to their character, which has helped improve results on the road.
“When you are a possession-based team, you try to play expansively and be pleasing on the eye, people perceive that you can be a soft touch as well, that you can be a bit soft and flaky,” he told The Bolton News. “And that has been labelled at my team a little bit.
“People seem to think there is no edge – but there is an edge to this season, and we are starting to see that more now. They take care of each other.
“Even the young ones, George Thomason for instance, he’s a silent assassin. He is a really lovely, soft quiet well-spoken young man. He’s got fantastic parents, a fantastic family, but on the pitch he’s a killer.
“That’s what you want to develop, those really good human beings off the pitch, but on the pitch they really want to win and George really highlights that for me.”
Ex-Blackpool ball-winner Thomason has progressed quickly since breaking into the first team in the second half of Evatt’s first season in charge.
After starting just nine league games on Bolton’s return to League One, the 21-year-old has already matched that total with less than half of the current campaign gone.
The midfielder’s rising stock at the University of Bolton Stadium has also helped him gain more confidence on the pitch, says Evatt, which gives him a unique character among players of his age.
“What we’ve done with George is because he’s such a lovely young man, he was quite timid and shy and what we’ve tried to do is give him the confidence to be able to do that and behave like that,” he said. “As long as it doesn't boil over, that’s absolutely fine to have a competitive edge and a ruthless streak.
“There’s nothing wrong with that, but because we have given him support and confidence from us trusting him being in the team, he has now developed that side of his game and he is a leader.
“For a young man, he knows what’s required, what it takes, and myself and Browny (Scott Brown) were talking after the game about mindset and mentality and it was really topical from what Cristiano Ronaldo said in that interview is that there aren’t that many young players out there now with that mindset and mentality and attitude.
“I think it’s going out of society in general. I think young people struggle to deal with negativity, struggle to deal with adversity and when they come up against that, it really affects them.
“George is the complete opposite to that, he’s a really driven young man, focused with a serious will to win and providing that does not spill over the edge, we’re absolutely fine with that.”
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