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Ian Evatt is preparing for the toughest challenge in League One – but refused to make spending power a topic of conversation in the build up to Birmingham City.
Wanderers go to St Andrew’s looking to put a dent in the title favourites’ flying start to the season and continue their own gradual revival.
The Blues had a £30million transfer kitty in the summer and spent more on Fulham’s Jay Stansfield than Bolton’s playing budget for the entire season.
But Evatt wants to focus on the football and he applauded the job done by Chris Davies, the former Celtic, Leicester City and Tottenham coach appointed in the summer to oversee a huge transition after relegation.
“It is a big test for everyone, me and the team,” Evatt said. “I am not going to sit here and start moaning about finances because you shouldn’t be jealous of what other people are doing.
"They are an anomaly at this level, no two ways about it, and it hasn’t been seen at this level before but it’s one thing to do what they have done, it is another to start as consistently as they have done. They have picked up results and they are a difficult team to play against.
“Obviously they have a coach who has vast experience at a much higher level, even though he hasn’t been a manager before. He has got off to a good start and they do things that can hurt you.
"We need a plan, and it’s as tough as it gets, but what a great opportunity to show what we can do.”
Wanderers have won four of their last five games, albeit their last two performances against Shrewsbury Town and Burton Albion have felt slightly below par.
After Birmingham, the Whites host Peterborough United, and Evatt hopes he will be able to look back on the next block of fixtures before the mid-November break and be able to report on further progress.
He said: “I think we’re top of the form guide, which post-Huddersfield you would have taken with both hands. Me being me I am disappointed it isn’t five out of five, it should have been.
“Winning games isn’t easy at any level, not consistently. You saw at the weekend Arsenal beaten by Bournemouth, Manchester City needed the very last minute to win at Wolves, you shouldn’t just disregard any opposition because everyone has a plan, everyone is well coached.
“It has been a challenge to us, there are huge challenges ahead for us, but in the next bit of this international window we’ll know exactly where we are at.”
Banned from the touchline for a further two games, Evatt will take a position behind the press box at Birmingham to watch Tuesday night’s match.
He watched Saturday’s game against Burton from the TV gantry and felt the view did offer him a different perspective on the action.
“The view, tactically, was excellent, almost perfect, in fact,” he added. “It was not an experience I necessarily enjoy because I like to be in the hear of battle on the side but in terms of watching the game from an analytical point of view it was beneficial.
“The most important thing on Saturday was to win and, as usual with football, there was context. The spine of the team was missing and with the injuries we had it was a job well done, and now we know there are bigger tests to come.”
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