Ian Evatt was pleased with his Wanderers side’s response as they secured a 2-0 victory at Shrewsbury in the Carabao Cup second round.Jordi Osei-Tutu and Dion Charles both struck in the second half as the Whites returned to winning ways.
“That was an enjoyable experience, I love watching my team play when they play like that,” said Evatt. “It was excellent.
“It is very early on in the season and it isn’t unexpected what he have witnessed so far, certainly not from me.
“It has been a little bit clunky and bitty. We are trying to improve, we are learning all the time.
“When you watch the game back from Saturday and take the emotion out of it, there were probably two mistakes which were the opportunities they had.
“For us, it was more about the other side, we weren’t creative enough and asking them enough questions. We had a lot of control but didn’t ask them enough. Tonight, it was more energetic and that was what I wanted.
“I asked them to take the shackles off and energise the game - with and without the ball - be positive with each other and believe. I thought we saw that from minute one tonight.”
Osei-Tutu, Chris Forino and Jay Matete all impressed after coming into the starting line-up, and Evatt admits he now has some selection headaches ahead of Saturday’s league clash with Exeter.
“After Saturday, we wanted to win the next three games,” the manager added. “We want to start building momentum and that was important going into Saturday.
“Obviously, I will have to make some choices but that is football and we have a good squad of players. I was really pleased with what I saw tonight.
“For me, the biggest difference was our risk taking in the final third - not so much shooting from distance when it’s unachievable.
“When we had scenarios out wide one-v-one, we committed defenders. We were driving into the box, running forwards in numbers and some of our build-up play was excellent.
“With the way we play, we always have to put the ball at risk but when it comes off and you invite the press, you can see how quickly you can go through the thirds. I thought we saw, it was a lot better than what we saw on Saturday.”
Charles took his goal well, reacting quickly to latch onto a ricochet before smashing into the roof of the net.
“It has been a bit clunky but you have to remember, a lot of our new recruits haven’t had a pre-season,” Evatt continued. “They have been waiting at parent clubs to move so they are improving with every game.
“Dion is a good example, he was injured at the back end of last season so is still getting up to speed. But we have to grow and improve, we know that and tonight was a big improvement.”
The Wanderers chief also maintained that more outgoings could be on the cards heading into the final days of the window.
“That is absolutely possible, and obviously we are going to protect our best players,” Evatt explained.
“We have had some calls about them as well. It could be a busy few days, it might be very quiet.
“I can’t really give any predictions at the moment because anything can happen in football, as we know.”
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