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Ian Evatt accepts Wanderers were far from their best as they edged through to the third round of the Papa John’s Trophy against Fleetwood.
Kieran Lee put the Whites ahead with a smart first-half finish but after watching his side struggle to build on their lead, then scramble to hold on to the result in the latter stages, Evatt was relieved to hear the final whistle.
“There were two positives – we’re through and we didn’t get any injuries. I think it stops there,” he said after the game.
“There was a team that is used to playing together, full of energy, full of life, a big opportunity, and then one that just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible with the right result.”
Wanderers face Fleetwood again next Tuesday at Highbury with three League One points at stake.
Evatt expects the match to be a very different prospect with different motivations for his own players.
Despite hinting that he would start with a weakened team, the Bolton boss made just two changes to the side that had drawn against Cheltenham at the weekend.
And he now hopes to use the next few days to fully recharge the batteries for what will be a busy December schedule.
“They will do a recovery tomorrow and a couple of day’s rest for minds and bodies, then at the weekend we will start preparing for the game on Tuesday,” he said.
“It is a huge thing for us. We need the rest. We haven’t got anyone else.
“People talk about the team we picked but we didn’t really have much choice, to be honest.
“We could only pick the players we had available – we left Ricardo Santos out, Elias Kachunga out, big, big players for us. We tried to get Kieran Lee and Eoin Doyle off as quickly as we can to give them some rest.
“The players looked jaded and it is human nature to come off it a little bit, especially when they see the team-sheet and it’s a group of kids. The trophy itself probably doesn’t get the respect it deserves until the latter stages, even though we are doing the best we can on that front.
“So, we can park this now for the New Year now and fight on two fronts, which will be good.”
Evatt started with a 3-4-3 formation but switched in the second half to a back four after struggling to break down their deep-lying opponents.
“We found it difficult in the first half to break them down in the low block, even though we got the goal. Second half they were full of life and energy but our lads just wanted to get off the pitch as quickly as they could.
“The goal was one of the few moments we showed any real quality, really.
“I was pleased with that, and I am pleased we are through.”
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