Like it or loathe it, rotation will be the way forward at Wanderers this season if Ian Evatt gets his way.

Provided his side avoids the unprecedented injury list they suffered last winter the Bolton boss plans to trust the scientific data his team provides to keep his players as fresh as possible.

Evatt has planned ahead for Port Vale this weekend, having made eight changes in the Carabao Cup. And – George Thomason’s appeal aside – he knows exactly which line-up he wants to play against Morecambe on Tuesday.

“I don’t make loads of snap decisions based on form, to be honest,” Evatt said of his methodical approach to selection. “They come more off the back of suspensions or injuries, really.

“The gameplan is the gameplan. And watching teams week-in, week-out, we have a decent idea of what will be required game by game and who we think will cope with that.

“We knew what the team would look like Tuesday and we know what it will look like on Saturday and next Saturday unless any unforeseen circumstances occur. “And it isn’t the same team – simple as that. We have to share the pressure and hope that when they get their chance they step up and perform.”

Evatt accepts that squad rotation is not always universally popular – on the terraces or in the dressing room – but he is pleased to report a “respectful” attitude within his own group.

“It has to be that way,” he said. “It is never personal, there is never anything personal here. We are in the business of winning football matches and what I believe you need is rotation, freshness, energy and intensity.

“When we are at our best we play with zest. You can all notice that.

“To be fresh, you can’t go with the same 11 Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday, it just doesn’t work.

“There is a significant drop off and the physical data shows that.”

Continuing down the road first laid by Sam Allardyce and his famous backroom at the start of the millennium at Wanderers, Evatt puts great trust in sports science and how it can be applied to football.

Whereas Big Sam was once at the vanguard of Premier League analysis, Bolton are now catching up fast after significant investment from the club’s owners in the department over the last couple of years.

They are also producing data uniquely tailored to ‘Brand Evatt’ – which the manager revealed has shown some interesting trends between home performances and those away from home.

“Myself, Chris Markham, Matt Pelham, Jamie Hesketh, the data analysts and the sports science department are now coming up with data that is not just strictly physical output – i.e. how far they ran, how fast they did it, how many sprints they have done,” Evatt explained. “It is entirely geared towards how we play – in possession, out of possession, in transition.

“They are coming up with guidelines or metrics which tell us whether we have out-performed or under-performed, all that work is taking place.

“I could bore you with it all day but I find it really interesting. There is a direct correlation between winning games, performances and physical data, there is no doubt about it.

“Also, we are looking at the difference between physical data at home games and away games, and trying to replicate the output away from home. We haven’t been doing that – albeit we have only had one away game this season. From what we looked at last season we certainly need to improve our output when we are not playing at home.”

Evatt has even changed the players’ day-off this season on scientific advice – with the squad now called into Lostock on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday but given Thursday off.

“We are trying to gain one percent, basically. They make a big difference,” he explained.

“On its own, one per cent doesn’t seem like a lot. But when you add a few different ones together then the numbers start to add up.

“The reason why we have changed the day off is to give them more freshness for Saturdays, more rest time, but also the ability to put harder physical work into them in the early part of the week and then gradually ease that off to get ready for Saturday.”