Ian Evatt insists the hard work starts here after Wanderers hit top spot on the back of a magnificent seven, writes Pete Oliver.
A stadium-record 7-0 demolition of Exeter City propelled the Whites to the summit of League One.
But with back-to-back league games to come against two of their promotion rivals and well over half-a-season to go, Evatt isn’t getting carried away.
“It's been a good day but it's only one day and the hard work really starts now,” said the Wanderers’ boss after overseeing the Whites’ biggest home win in a quarter of a century and an eighth successive victory.
“I'm delighted that we can perform like that but there are some big games to come. We are still in two cup competitions and we’re at Oxford and Portsmouth in the next two league games, so we have a lot of work to do.
“We've finally got to top spot and things are only going to get harder from here and we need to go again and step up again. We’re nowhere near the finished article yet. There are lots of things we can still improve on.
“We've done nothing yet. It was a really good performance today and some of our play was outstanding at this level of football, but the hard work really starts now. It's not about being top in November, it's about being top in April.”
Wanderers set themselves on the way to an 11th win in 12 games and a sixth successive league success with goals from Jack Iredale and Victor Adeboyejo before the break.
The rampant Whites then blew out-of-sorts City away with five second-half goals from Dion Charles, two, Paris Maghoma and substitutes Kyle Dempsey and Dan Nlundulu.
Nlundulu’s first league goal since his permanent summer signing put the seal on an outstanding display, with Evatt also delighted to see Adeboyejo end a seven-game wait for a goal.
“I believe in them all and they know that there's never a doubt or a question in my mind about what those players can achieve. I think they will go on and have really successful careers at Bolton Wanderers,” Evatt added.
“I have no doubts about that but it's good when they can score goals to take some of the outside noise and pressure off. They've done that but there's loads of work to do to achieve our goals and ambitions and to achieve the standard I believe these players can get to.
“As a squad in general it’s the best group I've worked with. The main thing when I came to this club was to try and give the supporters a team they're proud of.
“We're not there yet because we haven't achieved that much. I know we've won the EFL Trophy and been promoted from League Two. But we know where this club should be and we’re going to work tirelessly hard to get it there. We’re along the journey to doing that.”