Boss Ian Evatt insists he is not taking the backing of the Board for granted as he looks to try and topple League One leaders Wycombe Wanderers and end a tough week on a high, writes Pete Oliver.
Club Chairman Sharon Brittan this week confirmed in a message to supporters that Evatt retains the support of her and the Wanderers’ Board in the wake of last Saturday’s derby defeat to Wigan and with the Whites sitting just a point outside the play-off places with games in hand on all bar one of the teams above them.
Evatt therefore leads Wanderers into their festive programme and their on-going promotion challenge – starting at Wycombe on Friday night – while acknowledging that he has to keep producing wins to build on a CV that shows one promotion and two play-off places finishes in League One during his tenure with the Whites.
“I just enjoy doing my job and I enjoy watching the players play, especially when we can play to our potential and that's where my focus has to be,” said Evatt as he prepared his side for the trip to Adams Park and the search of a ninth win in 14 league games.
“It can't be on the exterior because I can't control that, but I can control how I prepare the team and then it's down to the team to go and execute.
“We've had really clear and open dialogue this week with the Board and with the players everyone is clear about where we stand and how much we support each other.
“We don't take that for granted, we know we have to win football matches and things can change all the time but it's great we've got each other’s support and we want to do it for each other and that's what should be motivating us.”
Wanderers also need the support of the fans, with Evatt aware that everybody connected with the club just wants to see the team win.
Wycombe – unbeaten in 17 league games – won’t make that easy on their own patch and the Whites’ challenge is made tougher by the absence of Ricardo Almeida Santos and George Johnston to suspension and fellow defenders Eoin Toal, Chris Forino and Jordi Osei-Tutu on the injured list.
But Evatt remains up for the fight and will be bidding to make a positive start to the Christmas schedule with a united force behind him.
“We've had those conversations and the minute I feel like that's changed and the players have lost belief in me, or vice versa, or the board have lost belief in me, then it's a completely different conversation,” he told Wanderers TV.
“We're not at that stage. We’re together. We understand that in football there are always tough times around the corner, always. We’ve been fortunate so far not to have had many tough times.
“The first few months were incredibly difficult, a lot worse than it is now, but it was COVID and it was different. Now this is the first time really we've been under pressure and that's four-and-a-half years in. You can't always have it good, especially in this industry. You're going to have tough times. My head is down and focused and if we can get through this, I'll be extremely proud.
“We know that if we win our two games (in hand on some) we'll be right in the top-six and in the heat of it. But there's a long, long way to go, 28 games of football and a lot of points and it's just the next game mentality and mindset.
“That’s Wycombe; a really tough game and really difficult in the circumstances with the personnel available. But we always go there and give it our best shot. We don't go anywhere to try and survive, we go to try and thrive and we'll be going there to try and win tomorrow.”
Watch the manager’s full pre-match interview on Wanderers TV