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Ian Evatt is reading little into Stockport County’s crushing home defeat to Wycombe in midweek, insisting Saturday will be a very different ball game.
With some local pride at stake, the Bolton boss believes Dave Challinor and his team will have every motivation to pick themselves up quickly after a humbling result.
Evatt watched his on-loan midfielder Aaron Morley score one and make two of the five goals at Edgeley Park but knows first-hand that fortunes can change quickly.
“I was there Tuesday and we have been part of a similar performance in the Huddersfield game and since then we have had a huge reaction and gone on a pretty good run in the league,” he said.
“I would expect a huge reaction from Stockport. The atmosphere will be different. Sometimes those night games in midweek against a side that doesn’t necessarily travel well with fans – and that’s no disrespect to Wycombe, it’s a long way and it’s midweek – but the place will be bouncing on Saturday. It’s a local derby, there is a little bit of needle and history there, I would expect a much more difficult opponent than Wycombe got.”
Challinor, who has helped Stockport gain two promotions in three years to make their way out of the National League, said on Tuesday night that he would take criticism on the chin after the heavy defeat.
And though Evatt will ultimately be hoping to make his opposite number’s week worse, he believes the “thick skin” Challinor discussed post-match is a quality that most managers need to develop.
“It is tough, a really difficult job, but we choose to do it,” he said.
“Once we stop enjoying it then that’s the time to not do it any more.
“It’s impossible to keep everyone happy, that’s a societal thing as well, but in football in particular it has got a lot worse in recent years.
“Dave will be feeling how I felt post-Huddersfield, and I listened to his post-match interview and I thought it was excellent, very honest. He is a good guy, Dave, and he knows what he is doing.
“You have bad times and it is about how you respond to them which defines how you are as a person, a character and a leader. I think he will be looking to lead in the next few days and I expect a very different Stockport County this weekend.”
Wanderers have won six of their last eight games to take themselves to sixth in the table, and Evatt has been pleased to pick up points with different formations, at home and away.
“With this new system we have managed to adapt and overcome,” he said. “We have been 3-4-3 at times and then flip back to 3-5-2 when necessary.
“We have found some confidence and momentum and found ourselves a bit again. We know what we want to look like as a team.
“We want to be intense, aggressive, energetic, and dominate possession where we can, when we can. We’re also humble enough to know that can’t happen in every game.”
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