Home
Wanderers find themselves in unfamiliar underdog territory at mighty Arsenal tonight – but Ian Evatt insists his players won’t be going to make up the numbers.
Though they start the night as 18/1 outsiders, separated by 62 league positions, the lack of expectancy on Bolton’s shoulders is being viewed as a positive by the manager in a season which has already brought about its fair share of stresses and strains.
Evatt admits there is more riding on league games at Crawley and Northampton, which follow fast on the heels of their Carabao Cup third round tie at the Emirates.
But he is also excited by the prospect of trying to pull-off the type of giant-killing feat achieved 30 years ago when Bruce Rioch’s Super Whites stunned the Gunners on their own patch in the FA Cup with goals from John McGinlay, Jason McAteer and Andy Walker.
“Nobody gives us a prayer, and in terms of expectation we know it’s practically zero,” he told The Bolton News. “We are not going there saying anything other than we’ll do our absolute best, and hopefully that means our fans can enjoy it too.
“The only way the fans can be happy with their night is if we are competitive and produce the very best version of ourselves, and we’ll be doing all we can to do that.
“Being an underdog can be a dangerous thing, when people write you off sometimes it can inspire you. And I hope it helps my players to do something incredible.”
Evatt will rotate the side that put five past Reading on Saturday, with one eye on a game at Crawley which kicks off just 64 hours later.
Those players tasked with tackling Arsenal – who themselves are likely to make significant changes – will need to be in peak condition, says the Bolton boss.
“We know Wednesday is going to be like a running session for us, really, just an experience in out-of-possession work and trying to stay as disciplined as we possibly can defensively,” he said.
“Again, the board have been magnificent allowing us to stay down there and give us the best possible preparation for Crawley which, in all honesty, is the bigger game in many ways.
“We are going to need energy and we are going to need more energy on Saturday as well. We are away for three games on the spin and they are tough ones too in different environments but it shows you how fast football can change.
“If we can get anything on Wednesday or just be competitive then Crawley and Northampton look different and we can try and get results to get back to where we want to be.”
Evatt has never managed at the Emirates before but did sample it briefly as a player with Blackpool, a memory neither he nor first team coach Stephen Crainey will remember with much fondness.
“Yeah, I was sent off after about 25 minutes,” he said. “I was laughing with Stephen Crainey about that this morning because Theo Walcott got a hat-trick that day, gave him a torrid time. it was 6-0, and all I could hear was one goal after another being announced, Theo Walcott on repeat.
“It wasn’t a great experience but I have to say it was probably my favourite ground that I ever played at. I’ve never been to Tottenham’s new one, which is supposed to be amazing.
“I wouldn’t mind but I got a red card for bringing down Marouane Chamakh, it wasn’t even anyone fast. And I still don’t think it was a foul, either.
“It was crazy because we’d beaten Wigan 4-0 in the first game and we couldn’t play at home because there was work going on in the stadium, so we got Arsenal away. The highs of the lows of the Premier League right there.”
Source