Ian Evatt is demanding better from his team as Wanderers look to end the year on a high, writes Pete Oliver.
The Whites play their final game of a fluctuating 2024 when they face Lincoln City at the Toughsheet Community Stadium this afternoon (Sunday 3pm).
Evatt’s men again need to bounce back after a Boxing Day disappointment against Barnsley when a poor second-half performance led to a 2-1 loss and back-to-back home defeats.
And the manager knows there has to be an improvement against the Imps – level on points with 10th-placed Wanderers – to get back to the cusp of the play-off places heading into the new year when his squad will be nearer to full strength.
“We're getting bodies back,” said Evatt. “Eoin Toal is hopefully not far away, Josh Sheehan not too far away, obviously we can get Aaron (Morley) back and that strengthens the middle of the pitch.
“Jay (Matete) is back from suspension, so on that front it's going to get better. But we have to perform better and stop with all the right noises and the right messages and go out there and transfer it to the pitch.
“That's all we have to do as a group. We all have to accept that at the moment we're nowhere near where we should be and that's my team and I have to take responsibility for that.”
The fixture against Lincoln is another Community Day, with tickets priced at just £10 for adults and £5 concessions.
That should encourage another healthy crowd and Evatt is hoping to deliver some reward after the fans did their bit to try and help Wanderers avoid defeat to Barnsley via two late goals.
“The support was absolutely amazing,” added Evatt, who will check on Victor Adeboyejo after illness ruled the striker out of a reunion with former club Barnsley and could also have midfield man Kyle Dempsey back in contention soon.
“No question about that. They were really positive, they got behind the players and they backed them and we've let them down. We've let them down so we have to own that and we can't keep letting them down otherwise things will change, of course they will.
“As a collective we have to take responsibility and I'm the manager and I will take responsibility for them (the players). But we have to do it together and we've got another opportunity on Sunday to make sure we get a win under our belt and start to build some momentum because at the minute we’re where near where we should be.”