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Ian Evatt is confident that Wanderers will be able to maintain their climb up the League One table even if he is banned from the touchline in the coming days.
The Football Association has levelled a misconduct charge at the Bolton boss, following his red card against Shrewsbury Town last weekend.
The punishment is to be decided early next week but Evatt accepts it is likely he will be prevented from being pitch-side for at least the club’s next game at home to Burton Albion.
A lengthier suspension is very possible, and that could rule him out of a midweek trip to Birmingham City and the following match against Peterborough United.
Evatt insists his players can carry on the sort of form which has seen them take 10 points from the last available 12 even if he is consigned to the stands.
“I honestly feel that we are getting back towards where we were, or where we need to be,” he told The Bolton News. “Results in the league, three wins and a draw post-Huddersfield, I think we would have snapped our hand off for that when you think back.
“I think we are looking dangerous again, we are coming into form again, so I am confident that the team will cope.
“I am an emotional and passionate guy and I like to demand things from my team from the side-line, and I think my team connects and reacts to that. I think we go into battle together.
“It is disappointing I might not be in the dugout for however many of those games, I don’t know, but I trust the players and I trust the staff that they can execute the gameplan. And I can hopefully still impact things from the stand, half time and before the game anyhow.”
Wanderers have climbed to 13th in the table and are currently two points behind Stockport County in sixth spot. They also have a game in hand over six of the teams above them.
Though big-spending Birmingham City have been tipped to run away with the title this season, even they had their wings clipped by Charlton Athletic last weekend. And Evatt is standing by his view that this will be a close and competitive division all the way to the end.
“I think we are in a better place. The league is very tight,” he said.
“We win our game in hand, and we are right up there where everybody wants us to be.
“It stands with what I said at the start of the season, the points tally won’t be anything like it has been in the last few years to get into the play-offs or the automatics. I think everyone will take points off each other during the course.
“We just need to try and stay on course when the bumps come, stay as consistent as possible, and if we do that we’ll be there or thereabouts.”
Though Evatt may not be able to take his normal position on a matchday, he maintains the most important work in the coming weeks will be done on the training ground.
“We will work hard, keep our heads down, and I think that change back to the original system has been a positive one. From last year we were made to feel like we needed to change, but we didn’t, there was a lot right about it. And I think we have seen the benefit of that over the last four games.
“I think we’ll get better as well. We are more adaptable, we can change our pressing strategy, we can sacrifice a little bit more, we can have less possession and still look dangerous. I do think we have more strings to our bow now because of everything we have worked on.
“It is down to us to keep improving.”
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