01 February 2022

Ian Evatt not getting carried away by talk of play-offs after latest victory

01 February 2022

Ian Evatt watched Bolton defeat Cambridge 2-0 in Sky Bet League One but refuses to get carried away with Wanderers’ dramatic change of form.

The Trotters have climbed to 11th position with four successive clean sheet wins including this latest success thanks to goals from Amadou Bakayoko and Dapo Afolayan.

But they remain 12 points off the play-offs with Evatt dismissing any talk of breaking into the top seven.

“People can wonder what they want but for now we are just focussed on the next game at Morecambe,” he said.

“However, in the first half that’s as good as we have been for a long time barring the goals. Our football was outstanding.

“The way we moved the ball at speed, ran in behind with speed and made the game stretched, Cambridge struggled to cope with it.

“Fortunately, we got the goal before half-time and that settled us down.

“We made things more difficult for ourselves in the second half but there were some moments of real quality and Dapo’s second goal was excellent.”

Wanderers’ new-look side, bolstered by half a dozen January window signings, has quickly hit its straps.

“It’s going to give me a few headaches but bring them on; I have plenty of Paracetamol,” said Evatt.

“I still think there is loads more to come, so many things to tighten up. We have had a good start but there is a long way to go.”

Cambridge, who face Luton on Saturday for a place in the FA Cup fifth round, suffered their first league defeat since December 18.

Manager Mark Bonner was philosophical after his side’s defeat.

He said: “All good runs come to an end at some point. But we are humble and brave enough to know it was not going to last forever.

“Bolton played a technically better game than us and used the ball better.

“But it is not often we play them and match them for possession; they played only 10 more passes than us.

“We had some control and had a few decent chances but we haven’t had an attempt on target.

“We needed to get to half-time having weathered the early storm so the timing of the goal wasn’t great.

“But at 1-0 down we are in the game however a mistake lets them run away with it.

“We are disappointed with the first goal because it was poor defending from us.

“They are good enough to create chances and score without giving them simple ones.

“I am frustrated we haven’t scored a goal and frustrated we let them back in the game with an error.”

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