Ian Evatt sees a trip to League One leaders Plymouth Argyle as the ideal opportunity for Wanderers to bounce back to their best.
Evatt’s men set off on their 300-mile trip to the south-west still smarting from Saturday’s 4-0 home derby defeat to Wigan Athletic.
Argyle will provide another major test after going unbeaten in the league since the opening day of the season.
But Evatt is relishing the chance to put things right in Wanderers’ first visit to Home Park for 29 years.
“We are hurt from Saturday. But Tuesday is an opportunity to move past that,” insisted the Bolton boss.
“We won’t forget it. We are hurt by it but we have to react now and there’s no better game to react in than against the top of the league – the best team in this league at the moment away from home – and hopefully we’ll go there and do ourselves more justice than we did on Saturday.
“We have to react, put our chests out, chins back up in the air and make sure we perform our standards.
“They are top of the league for a reason. It’s as tough as it can get for us – top of the league away from home.
“There’s no denying that but it’s actually a game I want after Saturday. We need a reaction, we want a reaction.”
Wanderers’ loss against the Latics saw them slip to 10th place in the table after back-to-back defeats.
But the Whites – who will have the suspended Ricardo Santos added to their defensive absentees at Argyle – remain just one point outside the play-off places a year on from a home defeat to Oldham Athletic which left Evatt’s side a single point above the League Two drop zone.
“We have come a long way in those 12 months and 12 months ago probably if you’d offered any of us to be 10th in League One we’d have all snapped their hands off,” added Evatt, who will be looking to end the Pilgrims' unbeaten home record with Wanderers' fourth away win of the campaign.
“But that’s gone now. It’s about focusing on the future. Saturday wasn’t good enough, wasn’t acceptable.
“We need to take that on the chin but then come back and perform to our standards and levels on Tuesday night and if we do that then I believe we can get a good result.”
Watch the manager’s full pre-match interview HERE and to watch tonight’s game live on iFollow click HERE