Ian Evatt is happy with Wanderers’ current progress as he aims to keep plotting a steady course up the League One table.
Wanderers take on Burton Albion at the University of Bolton Stadium tonight having reclaimed their top-six spot with last Saturday’s thrilling 3-2 win at Accrington Stanley.
The Whites came from 2-0 down to clinch a morale-boosting second away win of the campaign.
But after the drama of the comeback at the Wham Stadium, Evatt is calling for calm as the Whites continue their lengthy campaign to try and mount a challenge near the top.
“A lot has been made of the last few weeks and people are entitled to their own opinions,” said the Wanderers’ boss.
“The facts are we’re in the top six and if we won our game in hand we’d go above Peterborough, which would take us to fourth or fifth, which, by my book, is doing okay.
“I think we just need to breathe. We’re going to win games, we’re going to lose some.
“It happens in football seasons, but the most important thing is the end achievement and the end goal and the end goal for us is to be in and around that top six and, at the moment, we are there.
“It’s the course of the season we’re going to be judged on and at the moment we’re where we want to be.”
Evatt, whose side was 12th in the table at the corresponding stage of the 2021/22 season, added: “You go from hero to villain in football pretty quickly. It’s just the nature of the industry.
“But what we have to do is keep calm, composed heads, keep focused on what we’re tyring to do, keep working really hard on the training pitch, stay humble and stay grounded in good results and bad and, then, hopefully we’ll be where we want to be come the end of the season.
“But it’s a long way off. We’re only 14 games in. We’re doing better than we were last season at this stage, so that’s progress. And that’s all we’re looking to do, keep progressing and keep moving forwards.”
Wanderers will still be looking to build on Saturday’s success which brought them a first win in four league games when they face a Burton side which has climbed off the bottom of the table with a decent run in recent weeks.
The Whites – who will have Conor Bradley back from suspension – regained their momentum in spectacular style with three goals in a superb 20-minute spell to win at Accrington for the first time.
Evatt changed formation and personnel to trigger the fightback but suggests neither should be over-thought as he keeps working to produce a winning formula for every occasion.
“That isn’t by chance or by luck. We can figure out the opposition and change things in game with the options we’ve got and the personnel on the bench,” said the Whites’ boss.
“Whatever team I pick things are going to work and things might not work. But we can’t be too focused on formations and systems.
“I think people can become too concentrated on formations. On paper it looks like 3-5-2, it doesn’t mean it’s going to stay like that.
“The players can move and rotate. In games we can rotate and move into 4-3-3, we can change and build out with four at the back, three at the back and sometimes two at the back.
“It doesn’t really matter about formations. People shouldn’t be concentrating (on that) too much.
“The most important thing is what we’re trying to do in possession and our idea of how to affect the opposition.
“We put the players out there to give them the belief and the freedom to go and execute what we’re trying to do with and without the ball.”