Ian Evatt is relishing the prospect of another bumper crowd as Wanderers’ aim to make it a hat-trick of League One wins to take into the international break, writes Pete Oliver.
Carlisle United are set to bring close to 5,000 fans on Saturday as the Cumbrians make only their second visit to the Toughsheet Community Stadium - the first during the COVID season of 2020/21 - and their third visit to Bolton in 37 years.
With the home fans also again set to be out in force, there are set to be over 23,000 watching as Wanderers bid to edge nearer the top two.
And Evatt is excited at the prospect of sending his in-form team out in front of four near-full stands.
“I'm not precious about that. I'm delighted that Carlisle are bringing 5000,” said the Wanderers’ boss. “It's great credit to them to support their team.
“It's how football should be. We want big attendances and great atmospheres and we want to play in these games and it's no different on Saturday. It's about us embracing it and be the best version of ourselves.
“We have had two really important wins; two good wins, two different wins. We know Saturday is going to be challenging again. They're bringing a huge away following so we need our fans to be as noisy as possible to back the players.
“They have done that superbly all season and if they can lift them for one last push, we can then re-set a little bit and get some bodies back. It's a hugely important game and could put us in a really good position.”
Wanderers will still be without a handful of senior players against a Carlisle side battling to get a foothold in the division following promotion via the play-offs last season and currently sitting 20th in the table.
But striker Victor Adeboyejo is fit to return after missing two games with a knee injury and could rekindle his productive partnership with top scorer Dion Charles, who took his tally for the season to eight with goals in the last two wins over Port Vale and Stevenage.
“Victor is back available, which is positive news,” confirmed Evatt. “He's trained well with no issues at all with that knee, so that has settled down really well. We're happy with that because he and Dion were doing very well prior to that small injury.
“(But) it's not just about those two. We believe in all of our strikers and we think all five of them offer something different.
“The ones that haven't been playing as much, because of the form of victor and Dion, it's difficult for them to hit the ground running with limited minutes but we're trying to get them up to speed best we can.
“We have a really good squad of players and this last month in particular that's really been highlighted. The amount of injuries and suspensions we've had has been tough and difficult to deal with but the players who have had opportunities have stepped up to the plate and they're finding energy reserves from anywhere to give ourselves the best chance of winning games.
“It's only early October and we play until May, with an awful lot of games to come in the league and also in the cup competitions, provided we keep progressing in those.
“There’s a lot of football to be played and things change really quickly as we've seen in the last few weeks. Everyone needs to be ready to take part and when they get their opportunity, take it.”
Watch the manager’s full pre-match interview HERE