Ian Evatt wants everyone on side as he calls for Wanderers to show their true colours, writes Pete Oliver.
Evatt’s men entertain Reading on Saturday on the back of successive home League One defeats which have left the Whites off the pace in League One in the opening weeks of the season.
A 4-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town last Saturday prompted much soul-searching and behind-the-scenes talks in a quest to find a remedy.
And with the Wanderers’ Board resolutely behind the manager and the players fully dialled in, Evatt is seeking a positive response against the Royals.
“It's been tough. I can't shy away and hide away from that,” admitted the Whites’ boss. “It's been a difficult start and Saturday was probably rock bottom really in terms of the way everybody felt and the way I felt, so the only way is up.
“That's our focus this week; just trying to rejuvenate ourselves and find ourselves again as a team and understand what we want to be, what that looks like and go out and execute that.
“The players have been fantastic this week. We all suffered at the weekend but very quickly you have to get back on the horse and understand what makes us a good team and then go out there and train it and then prove it on a Saturday.
“I feel like we've trained it this week and now we have to go out there and do it. Now is the time for us to get our heads down, go out there and execute a strong performance and a strong victory and hopefully we can provide that on Saturday.
“There’s still a huge amount of togetherness. I've said this a lot, it's not the good times that really define what you are and who you are as a collective. It's the bad times and now is the time for us to stick together.
“Now is the time to get our heads down and show people what we’re all about and show people our true colours. So far we haven't done that and hopefully we can start to do that on Saturday.”
Evatt’s position has come under focus given Wanderers’ poor start to the league campaign, which has brought just one win in the opening give games.
But the manager – who had previously guided the Whites up from League Two to the top 10 and then successive play-off finishes in League One – has backed the Wanderers fans who he urged to keep lifting his players in a bid to spark a revival.
“The one thing I'm not is deluded,” Evatt told Wanderers TV. “I understand what football is. I understand you're always involved in the here and now. It doesn't matter what's been achieved in the past or what the team has looked like in the past.
“Everything is concentrated on the now and we have to do better in the now. We have to perform better, we have to play better and rediscover ourselves with that high-octane, intense, high-tempo football which creates lots of chances and lots of opportunities in an aesthetically pleasing way. That's what we are and that's who we are as a team.
“I'm never going to criticise our fans. The journey has been too good, the journey has been so emotional, and I care too much about this football club. The fans have been brilliant and we have to have a responsibility and we have to get them behind us by the way that we play, and that has to start on Saturday.
“I don't believe there's a Bolton Wanderers fan out there - a true one - who wants to see this team do poorly. Everyone just wants us to win and everyone cares deeply about that.
“I think if we can play our part and get them off their seats I think they'll be there for us and we need them there for us. This team can't function without the fans and the fans behind us. We need the confidence and the belief and I know come Saturday if we start the game in the correct way the fans will be there for us.”
Watch the manager’s full pre-match interview on Wanderers TV HERE