IAN Evatt reckons his Wanderers side could learn a valuable lesson from local rivals Wigan Athletic.

Speaking after Saturday’s 1-1 draw at the DW Stadium, the Bolton boss said he admired the competitive spirit his opponents have shown in League One this season.

His own side needed to muster a response after going a goal down early in the game and recovered seven minutes from the end thanks to Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s header.

And though it was not a perfect performance, Evatt felt there were some key notes to make as he builds a side for next season.

“We win or we learn,” he said. “I think we learned today - some positives and some negatives - and there are things that we need to work on.

“The holy grail, so to speak, is to have that competitive edge which I think they (Wigan) have got in abundance, by the way.

“I think that is what they are. I think they are very strong, very competitive, win duels and if we can add that to our football we are going to be a really exciting team.”

It was a game of few chances and high tension at the DW Stadium but Evatt was happy to see his players hail themselves back into the contest.

“What you find with derby games is they are very rarely full of quality.

“That is the type of team that Wigan are, they ask you questions and they make it scrappy. They put you under pressure. They are great, especially in midfield, at winning those second balls and we didn’t deal with it well enough.

“But I thought second half our quality was much better. I thought we were the team that were trying to find solutions by playing through some good switches, good one v one situations, and I think a wonderful cross and a fantastic header from a player that we’re delighted to have.”

With 11 points to make up on the top six and only 18 left to play for, the chances of Bolton getting involved in the play-offs are remote.

But having shown such improvement since January, Evatt believes his squad is heading in the right direction.

“I think we’re really excited once we get everyone back and in one piece,” he said. “Josh Sheehan was here today supporting the lads, Izzy, Demps improving all the time, Kieran Lee to come back and then we’ve got another transfer window to strengthen again, so things are looking really good.

“We don’t celebrate draws, it’s not what we do and not what we’re about, but we’re more satisfied with the fact that we’ve competed against a team that are a benchmark in this division at the moment and probably deserved more than what we got, but it’s good confidence booster moving forwards to know that we’re capable of doing it.”

Wanderers face Portsmouth on Tuesday night and could have Kieran Lee back in the squad after several weeks out recovering from a heel operation.

“He is making really good progress but we will see how that goes,” Evatt added.