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Ian Evatt says Wanderers are itching to get back to winning ways against Burton this weekend.
The Whites’ 4-0 defeat against North West neighbours Wigan last weekend was tough to take, and Evatt says the squad has been “hurting”.
“It has been a long week but the players are all ready to go,” said Evatt. “They have been hurting. It has been very much a week of getting our heads down and getting back to what we are.
“If you had offered us four wins out of five at the start of the season, and being joint-top on goal difference, we would have probably taken it. It is just the manner of the game and the way we lost it.
“We all reflect and we were bitterly disappointed. We are itching to get back out there and, hopefully, show what we are really capable of.
“I think the game was a bit of an anomaly. Every time they went forward, they looked like they would score.
“Every time we went forward – the bounce of the ball or whatever it was – it just wasn’t our day. We have been hurting but we need to react now in a positive way.”
Wanderers had made a promising start prior to the Wigan defeat, winning their first four games in all competitions.
“There is nobody more disappointed than myself, the staff and the players after Saturday because we know we are capable of so much more than that,” Evatt continued.
“I think we have shown that so far this season, and it doesn’t mean we have become a bad team overnight or one result changes what we have been doing, because a lot of it has been really good.”
The Whites have struggled at Burton at times, and Evatt knows his side will have to deal with their physical threat much better than they did against the Latics.
“We have got to perform, first and foremost, and make sure we compete,” he stated.
“I didn’t think we competed well enough in the first half on Saturday, in particular. That was the frustrating thing from my perspective, having watched it back.
“I thought a lot of our general play was fine, there wasn’t a lot wrong with that. I just think it was the winning of duels, the competitive edge and I couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing at times.
“Maybe it is because the players have very much had it their own way this season and hadn’t been asked the questions that Wigan asked us. Maybe it caught us by surprise.
“Obviously, we will find out the answers to that moving forward but all of those things we didn’t do so well last Saturday, we will be asked to do at Burton.
“We must make sure that we compete, we defend our box better and defend set-pieces better. After all of that, we need to provide and implement what we do and execute our gameplan. If we do that, I am still very confident in this group of players.”
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