Ian Evatt says Kyle Dempsey is excited and looking forward to taking on old side Gillingham with new team Bolton Wanderers and insists the midfielder has nothing to prove ahead of the trip.
Dempsey was a late arrival right at the end of the January transfer window after Wanderers finally made their final capture of the month with the purchase of the Gills skipper, who would have been a free agent in the summer.
The 26-year-old has made seven appearances so far for Bolton since joining from the Priestfield side, for whom he scored nine goals in 66 games in one-and-a-half seasons at the Kent club.
READ MORE: Neil Harris gives Bolton assessment as admission made on Kyle Dempsey's Gillingham return & transfer
Bolton boss Evatt believes the January signing is looking forward to taking on his old side and wants to show his quality at his former stomping ground.
With what Dempsey demonstrated on the pitch during his time at Priestfield and being the club's former skipper, Evatt believes the midfielder has nothing to prove to anybody, as he believes the January signing must now only focus on delivering for his new employers.
Evatt told the Manchester Evening News: "He's excited, he’s looking forward to it. He wants to go there and show everybody how good he is.
"I think he was their best player and captain of the team so I don’t think he has anything to prove to anybody.
"He’s now our player and all he has to do is go out there and play well for us. It’s as simple as that."
Evatt will come up against new Gills boss Neil Harris, who came into the dugout at Priestfield on the same day that Dempsey moved to Wanderers.
Harris has taken the Kent side to within three points of safety at the foot of League One and Evatt is well aware of the challenges the side overseen by the former Millwall and Cardiff City boss will pose Wanderers tomorrow afternoon in a game which has implications for the play-offs and relegation battles.
Evatt said: "He (Harris) had Championship experience with Millwall and Cardiff and has now gone there and all of a sudden started to get results.
"The team are set up well, they have become difficult to beat. They are a threat from set-plays, they’ve got some speed. (Vadaine) Oliver is a huge, huge threat aerially and we have to cope with that.
"But for me it’s not really about them, it’s more about what we do and we have to be the best version of us. If we do that, we have a chance of winning the game."
