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Keeping Wanderers’ strike force happy is not a straightforward exercise – but Ian Evatt believes he is making progress.
After switching from a front three to a front two, opportunities for the four specialist forwards on Bolton’s books come at a premium.
Dion Charles and Victor Adeboyejo started the games against Reading and Crawley but John McAtee and Aaron Collins have both furthered their own cause with goals in their last two appearances.
Wanderers also have the likes of Klaidi Lolos and Carlos Mendes Gomes, who could challenge for a spot up front once they are fully fit.
Evatt is hoping to foster a collective positive mentality in his strikers to keep them sharp in the coming weeks as players elsewhere in the squad return to full fitness.
McAtee stole the show with a fine effort on Saturday, his first league goal for the club, which means each of Bolton’s strikers are now up and running.
“It was a great finish and we have four really good strikers, ones that most of the league – Birmingham and their huge money excluded – would envy,” he said.
“It is hard for us to keep them all happy but what we are trying to do is get them in a mindset of ‘it’s a collective, not individuals’. They are a striking group and whichever two of the four play we know they can do the job and it’s important they support their mates.
“We are happy with where the squad is at. We need a few bodies back and we’ll be OK.”
Evatt feels that big summer signing McAtee will improve as time goes on at Bolton, having spent most of pre-season on the periphery at his former club Luton Town.
“He has come to us from a completely different way of playing, different style, missed a great deal of pre-season, so he is going to take time to adjust, develop and progress. But I think he will do that for us.
“We need to be patient with him, so do the supporters, and a bit like some of the other forwards, and Victor is a good case in point, but we didn’t really see the best in him until a few months down the line, and I think John will be the same.”
Evatt was also pleased to see a rehearsed set play from the training ground bear fruit against Crawley, with Kyle Dempsey scoring early on at Crawley from a Josh Sheehan corner.
“We spotted a weakness we thought we could get to with Kyle spinning around the front, that cut-back space area we felt would be open,” he added.
“One or two other things in the first half really went to plan. We lured them into a false sense of security and our quick transitions were really good, the only downside was that we didn’t score.
“Second half was a little passive for the first 20 minutes but once we got some energy on the pitch we went back into the mode we were in first half and we saw the game out relatively comfortably.”
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