Ian Evatt confident Bolton are back on track after ‘backlash’

Bolton manager Ian Evatt believes his side are getting back on track after the “backlash” that followed their play-off final defeat.

Wanderers made it back-to-back victories with a 2-0 triumph over managerless Crawley.

Kyle Dempsey’s early goal and a late strike from substitute John McAtee sealed the win as Bolton built on their 5-2 home win over Reading.

Bolton have failed to win promotion through the play-offs in the last two seasons and Evatt admitted last term’s final disappointment against Oxford took its toll.

He said: “I’ve never lost faith with the players. There was a bit of a backlash from the play-off disappointment, but the quality is still there.

“We’ve got four very good forwards all looking to score goals. I told them to play as a unit because it doesn’t matter who is on the pitch so long as we get the results and goals we need.”

Bolton had suffered three straight league defeats before beating Reading, but Evatt believes the good times are on the way back.

He added: “It is just another small step, but I’m confident there are a lot more to come.

“We are focused on two more games this week before the international break and, if we can get the results from them, I believe we will be back to where we want to be.”

Crawley have now taken just one point from their last five league games and interim manager Ben Gladwin admitted his side needed to “show more teeth” at the top of the pitch.

Former Reds captain Gladwin, placed in temporary charge following Scott Lindsey’s departure to take over at MK Dons, said: “The players could have easily gone under after losing a manager, but we’re all pulling in the same direction and it was a shame we didn’t get the result.

“After a tough week, I’m immensely proud of the boys. Large parts of it I really liked and a few parts cost us.

“At the top part of the pitch we need to show more teeth. We didn’t threaten their goal enough and we need to make the opposition feel under pressure more.”

Gladwin, 32, admitted he was “loving” his first game in charge until McAtee’s late clincher.

He added: “It was a frustrating start, conceding from a set-piece, but we wrestled control of the game.”