IAN Evatt has urged Wanderers to move on quickly after slipping to their first league defeat in five months.

The Bolton boss paid tribute to opponents, Sheffield Wednesday, who surged ahead with two goals in two first-half minutes and then saw the game out professionally after half time.

While the result stung on Saturday evening, Evatt says his players must not allow it to affect their preparations for Tuesday night’s visit of Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup, nor the trip to Plymouth Argyle next weekend.

The Pilgrims were the last team to beat Wanderers back in March – after which they went 14 games without another loss.

And Evatt would like to see them use the Wednesday result as an incentive to do the same again.

“I have no doubt about it, they can do it,” he said. “They have got to just dust themselves down now, shake this feeling off and get ready for Tuesday because that’s going to be a really tough game.”

Wanderers were hit by a double blow at the end of the first half on Saturday after an error at the back allowed George Byers to open the scoring, quickly followed up by a second from Liam Palmer.

Evatt was insistent his side could still get back into it – but admits Wednesday slowed the game just enough to ensure Bolton could not build up a head of steam.

“The message was they had to believe,” he said of his half-time team talk. “They had to believe that they could get one goal that would change how they feel and how we feel and how the stadium feels. We didn’t quite get that goal, we had one or two moments, but they’re strong, they’re powerful, they’re experienced, their gamesmanship.

“The game had no rhythm or flow to it second half because it wasn’t allowed to have that. The keeper going down injured, the old Wycombe one (David Stockdale), it’s just frustrating that there’s only four or five minutes added on because it doesn’t really matter if you add 20 or 30 minutes on, it’s the momentum that’s lost and you never really get that time back.

“That’s our own doing, our own downfall. They’re a super experienced team, a good team, and we kind of shot ourselves in the foot today.”

Wanderers welcomed more than 22,000 fans for the game, their fifth-highest attendance for a third-tier fixture.

“The crowd was amazing and obviously disappointed that we didn’t get the result but I think it shows the trajectory of where we’re heading and how we’ve been doing,” Evatt added. “We’re really disappointed to lose today and it’s how we react as a club to defeats which will really define our season.

“Obviously we’re disappointed, the fans will be disappointed, but we have to pick ourselves up and go again.”