Bolton Wanderers have a huge game this weekend at home against play-off contenders Plymouth Argyle.
Wanderers have their second game in the space of five days at the University of Bolton Stadium with the visit of the Pilgrims.
Bolton sit 11th in the table as things stand and seven points from the top six, while Steven Schumacher’s side are in the play-offs and just a point ahead of Wycombe Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday.
READ MORE:Bolton Wanderers injury latest on Afolayan, Kachunga and Dempsey ahead of Plymouth Argyle
The Pilgrims won the reverse fixture 3-0 at Home Park in October and Wanderers will be seeking to make amends for that defeat.
Ahead of this weekend’s game against the Pilgrims, Wanderers boss Ian Evatt spoke to the media at a pre-match press conference and here’s a transcript of what he had to say.
What’s the latest update on availability?
“Kacha will be available this weekend. Everyone is fine other than that, obviously MJ escaped the threshold of yellow cards so he’s okay now. Kyle Dempsey will return to training on Tuesday, it is too soon this weekend. Other than that we are all good.”
Still no Gethin Jones?
“No. We’ve had discussions with him and feel until the funeral is over, he won’t be fully with us and focused, so it’s important he spends some time with his family and they mourn.
“Following the funeral, we’ll all be here to support him when he’s ready to come back.”
You’ve scored a lot of late goals this season and you’re right up there – is that something that really pleases you?
“I think scoring goals in general, even though we’ve had quite a lot of shutouts, I think if you look at our goal tally, it’s right up with the top teams in this league. I don’t think there’s a coincidence.
“I think as I‘ve said loads of times, when you move the ball and you control the ball, it’s so difficult to do that for 90 minutes. People fatigue, players fatigue, spaces start to open up, we can now impact from the bench so there’s no coincidence with us scoring late.”
Next up is Plymouth…
“It’ll be a really good game. A team that are in form, a team that play a similar system to us. I’m looking forward to the game.”
You’re expecting an entirely different type of match than the one against Morecambe?
“Yeah. Everybody could see the game on Tuesday, we completely controlled and dominated it. I watched game back and how we didn’t win is baffling really. 80 odd per cent possession, 22 shots to their four, some self preservation from their manager after the game I see, but other than that we played really well.
“Some of our football was breathtaking at times, especially first half and we’re looking forward to Saturday. It’s a different challenge and hopefully a team that will come here and try to win and have a go at us and then it’ll be who can punch the hardest and hopefully we can punch harder than them.”
It was a little bit of a setback but how do you approach the team selection now at this stage – as it stands, there are no more midweek games, so does it give you a different approach when selecting teams?
“Possibly. I think in a number of departments at the moment because of players out of the team, Kyle, for instance, and Gethin, we’re quite limited with options. But it’s the forward positions where we’ve still got plenty of options and we’ll pick horses for courses so to speak and pick the right players for the right game.
“There’s lots of our stuff that we’re doing really really well, I think the team is evolving, it’s improving, it’s developing. You can see that visually in the games and there’s still loads more to come which is great and with a lack of midweek fixtures, we can add even more detail on the grass so I’m looking forward to it.”
There’s been a bit of speculation about other clubs being linked with your players. Is that difficult to deal with, is it expected?
“I expect it because I think we’ve got some good players but I’ve said before this club is now in a position because of Sharon (Brittan) and the rest of the board that we don’t have to sell, so I hope they’ve got deep pockets.”
What happens if a bid comes in for a player? Is that discussed with you and the board?
“It’ll just be myself, Sharon and the board’s decision. Everything we do will be in the best interests of Bolton Wanderers. I’m not going to sit here and say players aren’t for sale, because we all know that’s (not) true, everybody has a price.
“It’s my job to provide assets on the football pitch. I think we’ve done that and then if someone comes and bids what we deem as the right money to help the club in the long term then we’ll take it. There’s nobody which can’t be replaced. Some are more difficult than others, but for the right money you can replace anybody.
“Once a player’s heads turned, it’s very difficult in modern circumstances and the way the game is to keep them on board and keep them focused on the job at hand.
“It’s really then about selling at the right exit price so we’ll see what happens. I’m not saying anyone’s heads turned by the way, because it’s certainly not, but we’re getting ourselves in a position where clubs are enviously looking at some of our talent and rightly so because we’ve got some good players.”
How tiny has that margin for error become?
“Smaller obviously. Sometimes you don’t always get what you deserve in football and I don’t think anybody could argue other than the lot at Morecambe that we certainly didn’t get what we deserved. We played some outstanding football.
“I think the time of the goal on 41 minutes, it was 89-11 per cent possession, and it wasn’t just possession for the sake of possession. It was creating chances, cutting them open at will and we just didn’t take them.
“Then to be fair to them, they’ve defended for their lives, but we’ve had all of the ball and eventually we’ve broke them down. If you keep punching eventually you get knocked out and that’s what happened.”
Teams like Morecambe have been Kryptonite this season?
“I wouldn’t say they were Kryptonite on Tuesday. I think we were outstanding, I just think we didn’t take our chances. That was the difference between that game and Gillingham.
“I think performance-wise it looked very similar, so I was pleased with the majority of what we did. Is there room for improvement? Of course there is, especially final third details, but fundamentally the team is functioning well and I’m pleased with it.”
Late on in games, it’s good to see Bolton are getting the goals rather than conceding them?
“I don’t know what it’s been like historically but I don’t think it’s any coincidence when you have all of the ball then eventually the other team is going to stop running and get tired and I think that’s what happens.
“They fatigue and then we can make it pay. We’ve got serious options on the bench which can keep our intensity high, keep us pushing forwards and there’s no coincidence in the fact we’ve scored a number of late goals.”
How beneficial is it going to be now that all the midweek games are done and you’re going to have that time on the grass you’ve been looking forward to?
“I love to be out on the grass and I love to coach and I love to work on details and see plans come to fruition on Saturdays. That’s the most enjoyable part of my job and I can’t wait to get them on the grass and work on some stuff and help them improve and help us improve.
“It’s something that I love and live for really. I’m looking forward to that and it’ll be nice to keep them fresh Saturday to Saturday, which will be good up until Easter.
“Other teams now have to play with some pressure midweek. If we can get back to winning ways really quickly this Saturday and then put another run together winning-wise, then it starts to put pressure on the ones above us and some teams can handle it and some teams can’t.
“For us we just need to concentrate on ourselves, make sure it’s performance over points because people might frown at that comment, but to be honest the better you perform the more chance you’ve got of getting points. It’s not rocket science so we have to keep doing that and hopefully turn performances into wins.”
What do you think the coaching staff could do to protect the players from the pressure that the last nine matches might have?
“Tuesday night it was a farce really on the side. I think they were absolutely getting annihilated and they tried to take pressure off the team by the way they behaved in the technical area and I’m one that will always fight for my own. It’s as simple as that and that’s what I did on Tuesday, I fought for my own and I’m not going to apologise for that.
“In terms of pressure, all we can do is focus on us and back to performance, we know position specifics what’s required. They know there is accountability for everything they do, they know their jobs, they know their roles, they know the responsibilities and they have to make sure they execute those otherwise they know we’ve got people waiting in the wings to come and take their place, it’s as simple as that.
“But for us, don’t look elsewhere, just focus on ourselves and enjoy our football and play with a smile on our face.”
Plymouth do like to play in the same manner as Bolton do – in some way, could that play into your hands a little bit?
“As frustrated as we all were on Tuesday, I think the fans will see what we’re trying to do, see we’re performing to a high standard, see our football is fluid and it’s attractive.
“We want to turn those performances into points but I think we’re evolving into a good side. We’re not there yet, we’ve got work to do. From what I’ve heard people are very impressed with what we’re trying to do so that’s good.”
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