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Wanderers plan to spoil Portsmouth’s promotion party and take another big step towards Championship football at the Toughsheet this afternoon.
EFL officials will be at the game ready to dish out the Champagne and banners to John Mousinho’s side, who are guaranteed to lift the title with three games to spare if they can secure victory.
But Bolton have their own agenda, knowing if they win their final four games they too are assured promotion. Though Ian Evatt has acknowledged the “phenomenal” job done by the Fratton Park men to date, he won’t entertain the thought of his team playing bridesmaid at their own stadium.
“This league is an incredibly demanding one, so for Portsmouth to do what they have done, losing four games in an entire season so far, it’s a fantastic effort, phenomenal even,” he told The Bolton News.
“But we must make this day about us. We have an objective, we have to carry out our game plan, and if we do that, I am confident we have the quality to get a result and move on to the final three games of the season.
“It is a huge occasion, there is no point shying away from that. But is still 11v11, man against man.
“There are two teams who have a distinct way of doing things and Portsmouth have been very successful playing the way they do. We have had success doing it our way as well, and I don’t think a lot will change for either team, there are not many lessons we will learn about each other.
“We know what is at stake. We must get the job done.”
Wanderers have been boosted by the return to the squad of top scorer, Dion Charles, vice captain Gethin Jones and had fitness doubts clear on Josh Sheehan and Ricardo Santos.
Second placed Derby County entertain Leyton Orient at Pride Park, while fourth-placed Peterborough United – who would also guarantee promotion if they can string five straight wins together, including Bolton on the last day – travel to sixth-placed Oxford United.
Evatt watched Derby’s goalless draw at Wycombe on Wednesday night, which put his team’s fate back into their own hands, and it reinforced his view that there will be more twists and turns to come, even at this late stage of the campaign.
“For the first 10 minutes Derby were extremely dominant but after that I thought Wycombe came into the game and it became a typical, tight League One affair. It was all about moments and neither side managed to take one.
“That is what this division is – you can’t rest and expect results. We have seen in recent weeks Carlisle United beating Peterborough United away from home, Cambridge United beating Barnsley away, and these results seem to happen so consistently in League One that you can never be ultra-confident that ‘this game is winnable’ full stop. The league is too competitive for that.”
Wanderers were beaten 2-0 by Pompey in a televised match at Fratton Park in December, an occasion where Evatt felt his side did not do themselves justice.
“I just don’t think we performed to our level,” he said. “The Dion Charles chance was a huge moment. We had control at that point and having watched it back several times in recent weeks, especially with this game coming up, I was fairly happy with the first half an hour. We had the control, the huge chance, and goals change games, especially if one comes to us.
“We conceded a poor set piece on half time and just didn’t get going in the second half. We must do better this time.”
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