Ian Evatt says all at Bolton Wanderers understand what Derby County has experienced this season after the Rams' relegation to League One was sealed but believes his old side will face a tough division next season.
Administration-hit Derby dropped out of the Championship yesterday following a 1-0 loss at the hands of QPR and will be in the same division as Wanderers next season.
The Wanderers manager started his career at the Rams, playing 37 times and scoring once for the Pride Park outfit before being released in the summer of 2003.
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From there, he went on to play for Chesterfield, QPR and Blackpool in a playing career which saw him rack up more than 500 career appearances.
Evatt has fond memories of his time at Derby coming through the youth ranks there and believes all at Wanderers understand what the Rams have been through since falling into adminstration.
He admits it has 'not been pretty' seeing his old side in financial turmoil and gave credit to the Rams squad and boss Wayne Rooney for their efforts this season and that, were it not for points deductions, the Rams would have comfortably survived.
But he believes Derby have become another big fish in a growing pond in the form of League One next season, which will include Wanderers, Ipswich Town, Portsmouth and Charlton Athletic for sure, as well as one of Sunderland or Sheffield Wednesday most likely.
And Evatt says his side are trying to work out how to beat all in the division to plot a path out of it next season when they will take on the Rams in the third tier of English football.
He told the Manchester Evening News: “I was there from 11-years-old until 21 or 22. Lots of fond memories there and a fantastic football club, really well supported and sitting here being Bolton’s manager, I understand and we all understand as a football club what their fans and that football club has gone through this season.
“I don’t think it’s got to the extremes it did here but it’s not been good and it’s not been pretty and the players and Wayne deserve immense credit because without that deduction, they would have stayed up comfortably.
“But they’re in League One now and this is a tough, tough league and they’re just another big fish in a pond which seems to be getting bigger and bigger really.
"I think the division is virtually split in half. You’ve got some big ex-Premier League teams and then some little ones that are probably punching above their weight and you have to find a way to beat the big ones and the little ones and that’s something we’re working extremely hard to try and do.”
