Ian Evatt was pleased with Wanderers’ winning start as he aims to make the Whites better, writes Pete Oliver.
Improvement is the name of the game for the Wanderers’ boss going into the new League One campaign on the back of last season’s third-place finish.
And his players took the first steps with an encouraging 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion in their opening pre-season friendly behind closed doors at St George’s Park.
“It was a really challenging test with lots of technical detail from them and us playing a slightly different way with a slightly different shape. I thought it was a really good game for so early on in pre-season,” said Evatt after goals from Kyle Dempsey and Aaron Collins late in each half completed a successful comeback.
“It was end-to-end, there was lots of action and I think we probably had the better chances. It was great for the players to win. Winning is a habit. I know it's pre-season and doesn't really make a great deal of difference, but to start off with a win is important and there's lots to work from, build on and improve on.
“But our attitude was fantastic. We had a lot of chances in the second half and it's great that Collo managed to take one to find the winner. It’s a good start and gives us a platform to improve and as I've said, my main thing for the whole summer is how do we get better?
“We're not going to make any claims about what we need to do, or how we need to do it, or where we need to finish, it's just about improving and getting better and if we can get better, it gives us a great chance and that was a good start.”
Wanderers gave game time to all their fit senior players against the Championship side, which had led inside the opening two minutes thanks to a goal from Brandon Thomas-Asante.
Evatt also utilised a number of B Team players with seven first-teamers currently unavailable after defenders Gethin Jones and Chris Forino were added to the injury list.
And the manager admits his squad needs strengthening as the Whites work hard to make further progress in the transfer market and add to the four players they have brought in so far this summer.
“We are light,” Evatt told Wanderers TV. “We are working very hard to bring more players in. Scotty (Arfield) joined yesterday, which is great and will add to us, and myself and Chris (Markham) are working hard all the time on the recruitment front.
“But we've evolved and changed on this journey. I think we've done really well in recent years in the free transfer market and the loan market but we're now moving on to buying players to improve our 11.
“When you're looking to buy players, predominantly these players are very good players at their parent club so they don't want to lose them, or they hang on to them, and negotiations are sometimes drawn out and difficult.
“We’re just trying to be patient. Normally we return for pre-season and the majority of the squad is finalised. That's not the case this year, so we just need to be more fluid. There's lots of hard work going on behind the scenes but come the first game of the season, hopefully those bodies will be in and we'll be ready.”
Watch the full interview with Ian Evatt and a post-match chat with the returning George Johnston on Wanderers TV HERE