Home
Ian Evatt reckons Wanderers are in the perfect frame of mind for their play-off clash with Barnsley.
Despite losing defender Gethin Jones to injury for the rest of the season, the Bolton boss says his squad have got the same look in their eye this week as they had in the build-up to Wembley last month.
More than 22,000 tickets have been sold for the game – with Barnsley’s allocation of just over 2,000 being snapped up yesterday.
Evatt is confident that his players will be up for the challenge, and believes the fanbase will be feeling exactly the same.
“I don’t sense nerves, I sense a steely determination to do well,” he said. “I think when you are within the group it is easy to control those nerves. We’ll leave the supporters and our families to be nervous but for us it is about focusing on what a good performance looks like.
“We’re going to get an amazing atmosphere. It has been phenomenal here all season and it seems to be gathering even more momentum.
“Season tickets sales are through the roof, tickets for this game are through the roof, and I do feel a bit sorry for fans of all four clubs and the away allocations they have been given.
“I can only speak on behalf of my club and we only acted after conversations with other clubs, it was their call, we backed it up.
“I feel all four away followings are being punished and I don’t think that is right.”
Wanderers were knocked out of the FA Cup by Barnsley in November but have not conceded a goal in either league meeting, winning the game at Oakwell 3-0 after Mads Andersen’s early red card.
Evatt anticipates another close contest but admits preparations for the game have been different, knowing the second leg away from home will bring different challenges.
“We know a lot about each other and by the end of all this we’ll have played each other five times,” he said. “I don’t think Michael is going to change too much, and I don’t think we’ll change too much.
“There may be one or two slight tweaks and different pressing strategies where we think the space will be, but I think that too will be different from the home game to the away game.”
Wanderers finished the season eight points better off than they were 12 months ago and among the form teams in League One, closing the campaign with wins against Fleetwood and Bristol Rovers.
Evatt is proud of the progression his side has made, feeling they can now better cope with the sort of hard-pressing opponents they will face in the Tykes on Saturday.
“We have always wanted to be a team that is hard to beat and we have developed that,” he said. “In possession football teams are always labelled a bit of a soft touch but I don’t see any of that with now, we are more streetwise, and we haven’t been that in the past.
“I think we have built ourselves into a side that can do both sides of the game really well.
“Saturday I have no doubt in my mind that there will be a tense, aggressive nature to the game and I think we can give as good as we get.”
Source