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Ian Evatt has sent a strong warning to anyone who happens to be listening in League One: 'Don’t write us off yet!'
Beaten by Portsmouth in front of a national audience on Monday, Wanderers had to take their medicine over the last few days knowing a six-point gap had been opened up at the top of the table.
Fans at Fratton Park taunted the away end with a chant claiming they had “watched the champions” – a cheeky message that was duly noted and logged on the Bolton bench.
Evatt has said his piece to his squad and turned his attention to Saturday’s visit of Bristol Rovers, the first step in what he hopes can be another winning run.
The Wanderers boss wants to avoid any sign of self-pity and has called on the club’s fans to help lift the players’ mood this weekend.
“I think we can all step it up and make this an even more intense and intimidating atmosphere,” he told The Bolton News. “We mustn’t forget that we are in a really strong position and unless I’m mistaken, I don’t think the trophy was given out after that game at Portsmouth.
“There is a lot of football to be played for every team in this division, there are 23 other managers that will have their own ambitions and goals this season and every one of them has a plan. We have to respect that.
“But I know when my players are on their highest level, their very best, we are a very difficult team to stop, so we will look to get back to that on Saturday.”
Pointing to the partisan atmosphere at Fratton Park, Evatt felt the rescheduling of the game to a Monday night did play into their hosts’ strengths. But he would also happily see the volume levels rise on home turf in the weeks and months to come, as Bolton look to make a return to the Championship.
“From what I hear from the people down there, the local media were properly rallying the troops for Monday and made sure that atmosphere was incredibly intimidating and intense,” he said.
“We have to create the same sort of thing here because it does help the players and they can respond from it too. From minute one if we can set that intense atmosphere, the players will start on the front foot and feed off that, this won’t be an easy place for anyone to play.
“I have talked to lots of people I trust in the game who were watching – from Premier League managers down to League One and Two, and they all agreed it was a perfect storm,” he said. “Monday night, under the lights, full house, tight pitch – everything that makes the way we play really difficult. And if we want to improve we have to get better at doing it, and credit to them they found a way to stop us.”
Bristol Rovers recently appointed Matt Taylor as their new manager and have, in Evatt’s view, a squad that can challenge in the top half of the table.
“They recruited some good players in the summer,” he said. “I’m sure they will be out to impress the new boss and they had a good result in the cup last week, so this will be a tough game for us, no question.
“I think, though, this is more about us and how we approach it. The players know it wasn’t good enough on Monday night, they know the standards they have set, so now it is about getting back to those levels.”
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