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Ian Evatt has underlined the importance of promotion this season as his team walks confidently into battle against League One leaders Portsmouth.
With the twin target of climbing above Derby County into second spot and denying opponents Pompey the win they need to guarantee promotion and the title, Wanderers know how high the stakes will be at the Toughsheet Stadium tomorrow afternoon, where more than 24,000 fans have now bought tickets to the biggest show in town.
But looking towards the future, Evatt admits the big budgets and sizeable clubs likely to enter the division next season places even more pressure on short-term success.
The likes of Birmingham, Sheffield Wednesday, Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City are all in danger of dropping down from the Championship, with Rotherham United’s future already set in stone.
In League Two, ambitious Wrexham and Stockport County are well-placed, which is likely to increase competition next term.
“We have to get the job done, there is no other way to say it,” Evatt told The Bolton News.
“We are in a great place, and we have a fantastic opportunity now. Whether it is four games, whether it is another three on top of that, there are two more avenues for us to get promotion. In fact, there are three if you include Portsmouth’s spot, even though I will accept that is very difficult indeed as things stand.
“We have to get there no matter what. As I have said before, this league seems to go in waves and the next season’s division seems to have the capability of being stronger than it has been this season, I think we can all see that with the teams that are coming up and those coming down.
“The time is now and we have to try and make it happen.”
After some difficult months on the injury front, recent signs suggest that things are changing for the better for Evatt and Wanderers.
Top scorer Dion Charles is fit to feature in the squad to face Pompey and minor concerns over Josh Sheehan and Ricardo Santos have also been cleared-up.
Four wins will now guarantee Bolton promotion – and while there are arguments to be had about ‘what might have been’ for the Whites, who lost ground on Pompey and allowed the likes of Derby and Peterborough to creep back into the top two picture, Evatt is keen to draw a line under the melancholy.
“I have been guilty of it as well, but I think the shoulda, woulda, coulda conversation, or ‘if we had X, Y and Z available, where would we be and what would it look like’, I think you can send yourself crazy, and at times I have done.
“But I have managed to reset, switch back on to the here and now, and I think we have done incredibly well to get to where we are with the injuries we have suffered. I honestly don’t think any other team could have coped with the injuries to key players down the spine of the team that we have suffered. Now we have a great opportunity.
“But this game never ceases to amaze me. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if there are more twists and turns to come.”
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