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‘Wounded animal’ Ricardo Santos has used post play-off pain to get back to his very best form at Wanderers, says Ian Evatt.
The big defender produced another eye-catching display in the 4-1 midweek win against Stevenage to help Bolton climb back into the top six for the first time since the opening weekend of the season.
Santos struggled to overcome a calf injury at the back end of last season and came under fire after Wembley in May – the club also reporting that he had been subjected to online abuse in the weeks and months after the final.
Evatt sought to ease “pressure” on the centre-half by giving the captaincy to George Thomason and is now excited to see him back to his best.
“We have worked hard to get him in the right place and space,” said the Wanderers boss.
“I am included with Rico in that that we know the ‘W’ word, I don’t really want to say it, but it hurt us. What happened afterwards I don’t need to go over it but some of it on social media was bang out of order and it affected me, affected him, affected a few of the players in truth.
“We had to rally together, and we got a lot of help from our fanbase, to be strong. We needed some clarity and perspective that the majority are with us, and behind us. We were all frustrated and disappointed, but a wounded animal can be dangerous sometimes, and I feel like Rico has come out with a point to prove and been absolutely outstanding over the last few weeks.”
No other player has turned out for Evatt on more occasions than Santos, who is set to play his 194th game in the FA Cup against Walsall this weekend.
And the Whites boss believes his defensive talisman deserves the praise which has come his way in the last few weeks.
“He is playing out of his skin at the moment,” he added. “He is back to the Rico of absolute best.
“He is such a lynchpin for us and I care about that guy more than a lot of people do, we have a seriously strong relationship, and he came through some adversity – we have as a club – and it’s great to see him out the other side, performing like that, and showing everyone what a good player he can be.”
Wanderers will find out by the end of this week the extent of the hamstring injury suffered by Eoin Toal at Stevenage.
Defensive cover is on its way – but most likely available after the international break – which will give an opportunity to Will Forrester, who performed well as a replacement at the Lamex Stadium.
“Jordi (Osei-Tutu) is really close, which will help us, not in terms of centre-backs, but he will help overall,” Evatt added.
“Gethin (Jones) is getting there. Post-window George Thomason won’t be far away, Carlos Mendes Gomes won’t be far away and fingers crossed Eoin Toal isn’t as bad as it first seems.
“We can only adapt and overcome. We need the next man up mentality and Will (Forrester) performed well when he came on.”
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