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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
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John McDougall

Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt on AFC Wimbledon win, getting game on and gap to play-offs

Bolton Wanderers returned to winning ways with a 4-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon to keep their play-off hopes in League One alive.

Wanderers took the lead in the first half thanks to Jon Dadi Bodvarsson's header as he scored his first goal for Bolton.

Dapo Afolayan then added a second after the break, before Dion Charles clinically finished to put Wanderers three goals to the good.

READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers player ratings vs AFC Wimbledon - Bodvarsson, Morley and Charles impress

And Amadou Bakayoko came off the bench to net Bolton's fourth as Wanderers narrowed their gap to the play-offs to seven points, thanks to results elsewhere in the day going their way.

After the game, Wanderers boss Ian Evatt spoke to the press and here's a transcript of his immediate reaction.

What’s your assessment?

“I thought man of the match and performance of the day was the ground staff, the volunteers, the stewards and everything they did to enable us to get this game on. Sometimes they don’t get the credit they deserve but I’m so appreciative of what they did today.

"That made a huge difference to us and the pitch was brilliant and immaculate and we enjoyed ourselves out there today.”

Good to bounce back after the blip at Burton?

“Yeah, I think that’s all it was. We’ve hardly spoken about it to be honest. We parked it really quickly and we thought it was a game in isolation where everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

"Obviously the pitch, the conditions, the goals, the six minutes, it wasn’t a reflection of how we actually played the game. I thought we were the better team, it’s not like we got battered for 90 minutes but we parked it and wanted to show what we could really do today and we’ve gone out there and done that.”

Your changes and alterations to the team worked well?

“I’ve got the benefit of picking the right personnel for the right challenge and we thought we did that on Tuesday with the physicality and it just didn’t work out that way, but we’d always planned the team today for today. We thought it would suit us and I thought we were good. I still think there’s loads more.

"I think second half we were enjoying ourselves and expressing ourselves which is great when you’re three or four nil up but when you spell blood, I always just want more. I just think we weren’t quite as professional as we should have been. We can play with tempo and speed, but we have to keep doing the right things and I just think we overexpressed ourselves at times.

"I’m being nitpicky when we’ve won 4-0 and I’m complaining but I just think there’s so much more to come from this team.”

It’s seven points off a play-off place…

“We set ourselves a target of wins and points and we’re still a long way short of that target. We’ve got 13 more games to go, lots of points to play for but we need to win games.”

It’s been remarkable since January?

“If you’re asking am I surprised the answer is no, I’m not. I think we’ve recruited really well and we put a lot of hard work into recruitment.

"Chris Markham has been fantastic, the team of analysts behind him which are helping formulate reports for us to make the right choices, it’s a big team effort and as we saw with the ground staff and the stewarding and everyone today, it takes everybody.

"This is one club, one town and one community, but it comes to fruition on days like this and we have to enjoy it so I’m hopeful that I can get the ground staff a beer tonight and we can get the pitch ready for Tuesday.”

Have you got a headache in terms of team selection for Lincoln?

“I’ve already got a team in my mind for Tuesday. I had it in my mind before today regardless of results and nothing will change that. Lincoln provide a different test again, but one we’re looking forward to.”

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