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Ian Evatt hopes Wanderers fans enjoy their night after watching a stunning 6-0 win against Sunderland.
The Bolton boss said it was important for himself and his players to stay as grounded as possible despite breaking records at the UniBol.
It had been the biggest margin of victory for a Wanderers side since the stadium opened in 1997, with James Trafford becoming the first Bolton keeper to keep three consecutive clean sheets in his first three games in 39 years.
Asked what had pleased him most about the performance, he smiled: “Probably the clean sheet.
“For almost 19 months I have been in charge now, some people might have said that sort of result was coming.
“It hasn’t felt like that in the last couple of months. Everything went right.
“We will enjoy it tonight because we have suffered pain. But getting players back, getting them fit again, bringing them in, has all helped us.
“We have a lot of hard work to do. That’s three wins, three clean sheets, but it is a small step. There is more work before we get anywhere near where we want to be, we are not there yet.”
Wanderers were able to bring Kieran Sadlier on for his debut and name January signings Trafford, Marlon Fossey, Aaron Morley and Dion Charles in the starting line-up. Jon Dadi Bodvarsson – snapped up from Millwall – also came on in the second half.
Evatt had insisted that better times would arrive after his team’s form nosedived between October and December but reckons a third successive win should be celebrated by the supporters.
“I am a young manager who has had success early but I have been in the game a long, long time and had a long career. I would like to think I know what I am talking about or what I am doing,” he said.
“We knew we had to improve, there had to be some maintenance ingoing and outgoing. Today we saw the fruits of what I was able to do. Again, it is huge credit to the board for enabling me to strengthen the squad but I am also most pleased for the fans because they more than most have suffered this last couple of months. The Wigan result really hurt them, hurt us. I hope they really enjoy that.”
Evatt believes his side will face a stiffer challenge on Tuesday night against Cambridge United where his side will be looking for a fourth win on the spin.
“For now, we can enjoy this result,” he said. “But I think Tuesday will be more difficult, with probably half that crowd, not many away fans. We will have to create our own atmosphere and be strictly business and focus after what was a good performance.”
Wanderers will continue their chase of Gillingham midfielder Kyle Dempsey tomorrow after he played in a 7-2 hammering by Oxford United at Priestfield.
“It is progressing,” Evatt said. “We know there is still work to be done and it is well-publicised the one player we are trying to get, or at least the one position.
“When we get that we will be finished with players coming in – possibly some outgoings as well but we will see.
“It was great today to look towards the bench and have serious options to come off that are not necessarily going to weaken the team. It was a good day all round.”
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