Ian Evatt admits fixture congestion is a ‘challenge’ for Bolton
Posted Wednesday, February 07, 2024 by PA
Ian Evatt spoke of the issues of forthcoming fixture congestion after Bolton’s game at Cambridge was abandoned.
Both head coaches agreed that referee David Rock made the correct decision in calling the game off after he consulted both Neil Harris and Evatt before leading the players off the pitch with only nine goalless minutes played.
The abandonment was confirmed 16 minutes later.
“I think we’ve got one Tuesday free until the end of the season, so that’s that gone,” Evatt said afterwards.
“It’s a challenge, it’s a test but there’s no way we could have played on that pitch.
“I think we’ve both got a free Tuesday two weeks from now, let’s just get it on as soon as we can.
“All I saw was what happened at Burton. The pitch was perfectly fine and then two hours later it was waterlogged.
“When I came I could see the level of the rainfall. It’s a really good pitch actually but when the pitches are as good as that it seemed to pool and waterlog really quickly.
“Once it started to pool it was only going to get worse.
“Both teams wanted to play tonight. The conditions suit probably one team more than the other, but that’s football.
“I think the referee made the right call.”
Cambridge boss Harris would have preferred the match to reach its conclusion.
He said: “From our perspective we wanted the game to be played because we thought the weather conditions sort of fell in our favour a little bit here against a really good football side.
“I understand the referee’s decision and the EFL’s decision and I’ve got no complaints about it. I just think it’s unfortunate. I thought it had the makings to be a really good game.
“I think you saw in the first nine minutes that was played, that there could have been goals at either end. I think one thing’s for sure, it wouldn’t have ended up 0-0.
“We could all see what was coming. You could see the ball just stop rolling. I think George Thomas ran past the ball at one stage because it had stopped.
“So you knew the moment was coming, you just hoped that the rain lays off a bit and the pitch has got time to recover.
“It’s not just the players, it’s the fans. How long do you wait while you leave the fans in the cold and wet?
“I’ve got no complaints with the decision. I’m disappointed, frustrated because we’re on a great run and I was really looking forward to the game.
“I thought the conditions tonight suited us to make it a real scrap. So I’m frustrated but accept it.”
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