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Ian Evatt is confident his upcoming new signings will be able to make up for lost time at Wanderers.
The Bolton boss hopes to add another player to his squad before the next friendly game against Salford City – and wants up to five new faces before the close of the transfer window at the start of September.
Evatt has had to be patient as he targets players who have been away on tour with Premier League squads or those looking initially to seal a move to the Championship.
But with the gears now starting to move on a couple of front, he is sure that players he brings in will not suffer for having missed the opening few weeks of pre-season.
“We are hoping the ones we are targeting will be of a high enough quality and stature to take on board what we are trying to do and fit in quickly,” he said.
“One thing we have got – whether you like it or not – is a clear brand and identity. We think the players we want to recruit fit that brand and identity so they should be able to walk into it.
“Yes, there are things they will pick up as they go along but there shouldn’t be any long-term struggles to pick up what we are asking them to do. They should pick it up fine.”
Wanderers drew 1-1 at Chester at the weekend to preserve an unbeaten but rather unspectacular start to their friendly schedule.
Having played three non-league teams to date, the Whites have often laboured in front of goal with Cameron Jerome the only striker yet to get on the scoresheet.
Evatt was pleased with some aspects of his side’s performance against Chester but admits that his front men need to find their shooting boots before the real business begins.
“I hope we’re saving the goals for League One,” he told The Bolton News. “I think we have looked sharp at times, and I think in the first half of the game we were incisive, we did have the right ideas.
“But we have all been in these games and they are never easy to play in. I thought we controlled the first half as we should but I am seeing some benefit of the tactical tweaks we have made I just think it will take a bit more practice to really nail those ideas down.
“With the strikers, I think they just need a bit more confidence. They should be scoring plenty with the chances we are creating.”
Wanderers will play a behind-closed-doors game against Bradford City on Tuesday to introduce more tactical work with three more public friendlies left to play.
Evatt is not reading too much into the first few appearances of the summer.
“It is just an extended public training session – maybe slightly more competitive because their players will kick ours and we don’t tend to do that in training,” he said.
“It is an extension of what we do on the training ground but I think things get more serious now because we are three weeks away from the big kick-off and so it should be all systems go.”
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