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Ian Evatt hopes Wanderers can be ‘myth-busters’ at Cheltenham.
While true to say the Whites have lost just once in the league at Whaddon Road, the compact stadium coupled with the home side’s reputation for up-and-at-them, direct football, has in the past been referred to as “Kryptonite” by the Bolton boss himself.
Last season’s 1-0 defeat, which preceded another poor showing down the M5 at Forest Green, was arguably the lowest point of a successful campaign.
And that disappointment is fuelling Evatt and his players as they look to continue a 100 per cent record so far.
“We know what everyone’s myth is about us, so it is down to us to go and answer some of those questions,” he told The Bolton News.
“It is always tough there and we have kind of been on the same journey, Cheltenham and Bolton,” he said. “We have had a little bit more success than they have since the League Two days but we are very used to playing each other, we know exactly what is coming and so do they.
“I am not having this myth that Cheltenham is a bogey ground. We have won two of the last three games there so we will go there full of confidence to execute our gameplan, all the while always respectful of the opposition.
“We just need to be better at what we do because the spaces are smaller. Tighter with passing, better with our decision-making, the detail of each pass has to be correct, we have to work at a higher tempo because you don’t have time on the ball. But those are things we have worked on the entirety of pre-season, so I don’t have any doubt the players will take it on.”
Wanderers have thus far coasted to victory on home turf against Lincoln and beaten an ultra-defensive Barrow in the cup, albeit with fewer thrills.
Evatt is pleased with what he has seen so far but has warned against any form of complacency.
“From our perspective it’s just ‘carry on’ really – two victories, no goals against, no shots on our goal, averaging 75 per cent possession and 1,500 passes, I don’t think you are going to get a much better start than that. But it is only a start, of course, and there are bigger tests to come, including Saturday.
“It is the nature of football. If it was a predictable industry it would be a pretty boring, wouldn’t it?
“What you find is, like any sport, if you think you have cracked it then it quickly comes back around and bites you on the a***.
“We haven’t cracked it. We understand and know there is improvement to come, and there is a desire to get better as well. We have got the proverbial eye of the tiger at the moment, I can see that in the players, so we need to get ready for another big test at Cheltenham.”
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