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Happy to play underdog – Ian Evatt has warned that his wounded Wanderers may yet find their bite at Sheffield Wednesday.
Pride dented by criticism that followed their 2-0 home defeat against Ipswich at the weekend, the Whites go to Hillsborough looking to become the first team to beat the leaders in 23 league games.
Wembley beckons after that, but with George Johnston and MJ Williams back in contention, Evatt believes his players could yet upset the odds.
“I quite like the idea of having this game on Friday because I don’t think many people are giving us a prayer, they are writing us off, and when that happens we become dangerous,” he said.
“We haven’t got anything to lose there and everyone else thinks we’ll get nothing but I am looking forward to the game.”
Friday will be Wanderers’ last league game until Good Friday, when they travel to play Exeter City, by which time Evatt expects the table to have a very different look.
Wanderers have already seen the gap between themselves and Wycombe whittled down to three points this week and will most likely be out of the top six altogether by the time they resume.
Evatt is optimistic, however, that a period of rest after the Wednesday game and the one-off occasion of the Plymouth Argyle showpiece can be a catalyst for a strong finish.
“I genuinely think it will benefit us. Maybe not in terms of what the league looks like, because I think Wycombe play three times in the spell between our Friday game and when we play again in the league.
“And for the supporters, that might wobble them a little bit. It might be a case of ‘we’re not top six all of a sudden.’ “But we will have the games in hand then, and I think we have a pretty good run-in which we are looking forward to.
“This has been a sticky period, no question, but if you look at most of the top teams they have all had them – Plymouth, Derby, Barnsley, Ipswich – but it is about how you manage them, and I’d much rather it be now than in six or seven games.
“There is still a lot to play for, so we have to work hard and get back on track.”
After re-watching the defeat to big-spending Ipswich, Evatt is more confident than ever that his team would have claimed victory had they managed to open the scoring through Conor Bradley early on, or draw level with Dion Charles’s penalty just after half time.
“At the time I felt a bit of an inferiority complex, being honest, that their team looked like eight to £10m more than ours,” he said. “And realistically they are spending more than us.
“That is what I felt watching it back live but I shouldn’t use that as an excuse. We are not that far away from them.
“Yes, they were more mature in their performance and on their day they took their moments, the one before half time which was a mistake, and then the set play.
“But I genuinely feel if Conor scores early on or if Dion scores the penalty, we go on to win the game. Kieran (McKenna) admitted afterwards that they had been wobbled.
“We are not a million miles away but we have to keep working hard and then prepare for a challenge which is as tough as it gets on Friday.”
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