Ian Evatt claims Bolton have ‘got another gear yet’ after sixth straight win

Posted Wednesday, March 03, 2021 by PA

Bolton boss Ian Evatt still wants more from his players despite their latest Sky Bet League Two success – 2-0 at local rivals Oldham.

Wanderers cruised to a sixth straight league win for the first time since 2000 after the hosts had Kyle Jameson sent off in the first half.

Evatt said: “It’s a very pleasing performance from the lads, of course, but I still want more from them. We’re all still hungry for more.

“It was a clinical performance, particularly in the first half, and looking back, maybe the second half was a bit too easy for us. This was an excellent win, though.

“Oldham are still a really good side with plenty of good players.

“We created lots of opportunities over the 90 minutes, but maybe we could have been a bit more selfish in front of goal.

“Perhaps the most pleasing thing for me is that I still know this team has got another gear yet – there’s still another level to reach.

“We’ve still got 14 games left to play so there’s lots of points still up for grabs for everyone up there. There’s no way we will be resting on our laurels despite having won six games in a row.

“We’ve got a big game at Bradford on Saturday, so we have to prepare properly for that now.”

Bolton went in front when Oldham defender Harry Clarke – on his 20th birthday – put through his own net.

Oldham went down to 10 men when Jameson clattered into Nathan Delfouneso and Eoin Doyle then doubled Bolton’s lead before the break.

Latics weathered the storm a little in the second half and at least prevented any further damage.

The inconsistent hosts have now lost 11 times on home turf so far this term, but boss Harry Kewell was determined to remain positive.

“It’s disappointing because I thought we started the game so well,” he said. “We dominated for the first 15 or 20 minutes, but then we let a silly goal in and then the challenge by Kyle has really killed us.

“The players’ attitude in the second half was pleasing, though. I was proud of the performance in the second half.

“There was a real work ethic and I can’t fault the effort at all.

“We have good patches, bad patches, but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves after a defeat like this.

“We just have to crack on and look forward to the weekend now.”

Kewell had no complaints with Jameson’s straight red card.

“It doesn’t really matter what my thoughts are on it,” he added. “The referee has got a job to do and he saw it as a red-card challenge.”