All to play for!
15 Jan 2024 11:21
BOLTON Wanderers boss Ian Evatt is looking for a strong second half of the season as his team sets its sights on a place in the Championship next season.
Four wins out of four over the festive period have helped put the Whites in a strong position at the start of 2024.
But Evatt is warning against complacency. He told Wanderers TV: “Hopefully this is a very successful year for this football club and some more progression for us.”
He added: “I think, in general, it’s been a good 2023, obviously with the Wembley win, getting to the play-offs last year and seeing us evolve again and improve this season.
“We know if we can replicate that in the second-half of this season then we have a great opportunity to get promotion and that’s our aim and ambition. But there’s a lot of football to be played and a lot of hard work to be done.
“We cannot think we’ve cracked it, we cannot think we’ve done it. This league is tough, it’s unforgiving. People drop points left right and centre.
“We have dropped points as well when we shouldn’t have and had some poor performances. We just need to focus on the next game and the next opportunity.”
Wanderers’ strong performance over the Christmas and New Year period saw them sit second in the League One table.
And Evatt was full of praise for his side’s approach to the hectic fixture list. He said: “The players have been brilliant. They have been away from their families, which is hard at this time of year, but they’ve really bought into the bigger picture and what we want to do for this football club and these fans and they are getting their rewards from it.”
The Whites start the new year without the services of vice-captain Gethin Jones, who has flown out to play for Australia in the Asian Cup.
He told the club’s official website: “I’m looking forward to it. It’s obviously difficult to leave for a long period as well because we are fighting for something massive here this season.
“It was a difficult conversation with the manager but at the end of the day it’s a massive opportunity for me to go and represent my country.
“It’s always been something on my mind ever since I was a young boy - playing for either Wales or Australia, my country of birth.
“My family loved it there and I loved it when I lived there, so I was made-up to get the call up and go and represent this club on this stage.”
The Whites FA Cup third round replay against Luton was taking place at the Toughsheet Community Stadium on Tuesday January 16. At stake was a trip to Crystal Palace or Everton in the next round.
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