Evatt: We're In It To Win It!

Ian Evatt hailed his top-six side and hopes there’s even more to come in a memorable season for the Whites.

Wanderers booked their place in the play-offs with a measured 2-0 win over Fleetwood Town.

With Peterborough United dropping points and unable to catch Wanderers with one game to go, Evatt’s men guaranteed themselves a place in the promotion shoot-out.

And they will set their sights on a two-legged contest against either Sheffield Wednesday or Barnsley after first celebrating the achievement of sealing a play-off spot in just their second season in League One.

“It’s tough to win football matches, especially when they’re in a pressure environment,” said Evatt.

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“But we found a way to win and I’m delighted for the players. It’s been a really solid effort this season.

“But the season isn’t done yet. There’s no point being in it without going to win it and we want to make a splash in the play-offs and hopefully have another day at Wembley.

“We’ll enjoy the (end-of-season) awards tonight and have a re-set ready for the big games to come.

“I’ve been delighted with everybody. It’s been a real squad effort and a huge thank-you to my staff as well, who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes.

“Hopefully there are bigger things to come but we’ll really enjoy today.”

Wanderers can now plan a second attempt to reach Wembley after winning the Papa Johns Trophy there at the start of a defining month.

The Whites have played seven games since then and bounced back from a mid-week loss to Accrington Stanley to get the points needed to make it over the line thanks to an own-goal and Kyle Dempsey’s second-half goal against Fleetwood, who had Jayden Stockley sent off.

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“A week can be a long time in football,” added Evatt. “The one thing we’ve always tried to do as a group when questions have been asked, we’ve always tried to answer them.

“I think we’ve done that the majority of the time and I knew I would get a response today.

“I thought we managed the game well. I think they’re a dangerous team who have invested heavily in January, have nothing to play for and can throw bodies forward and makes it difficult.

“The conditions obviously didn’t really help in the way we want to build in the first half but we were determined and dogged and we found a way to win. Second half, the sending off helped, but I don’t think the result was in any doubt.

“It will be nice to have a week now with no pressure. I’m really pleased we’ve achieved something but it’s not enough. We want more and we’re capable of more.

“The season is far from done. There’s no point being in it if you can’t win it and we want to do all we can to make sure we give our brilliant fans another day in the sunshine.”

 

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