IAN Evatt hopes his strikers’ hard work will start paying off soon.

Buoyed by improvements in his side’s high pressing strategy the Bolton boss now wants to see Dion Charles, Elias Kachunga, Dapo Afolayan and Amadou Bakayoko rewarded by getting off the mark in League One.

Wanderers are scheduled to play at Cheltenham Town on Saturday but the EFL will decide this morning whether the entirety of this weekend's game will be postponed as a mark of respect to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away yesterday.

None of the quartet – or the injured Jon Dadi Bodvarsson – have yet scored in the league and there were some signs in last weekend’s victory against Charlton Athletic that the drought could be playing on their minds.

Evatt has called for some sacrifice from his forward players as they hunt down possession high up the pitch, yet the number of goalscoring opportunities that are being wasted is still a concern.

“Forwards are never naturally that way inclined – they want to get the ball and score goals, that is what they want to do,” he said.

“But we have had a big buy-in from our forward players because when they are gaining chances from that high press and hard work, they will know it is worth it.

“When you look back through pre-season and the start of this season there has been lots of occasions where we regain the ball high up the pitch because of that hard work and have then created chances. We just need the chances to be taken more often now.

“None of our front four have scored in the league yet, so hopefully we are saving them to go on a big run.

“I have seen stats that we have been one of the top scorers in all competitive games this season, so that shows we are creating and sharing. There is no panic on my part, but we need those players to start taking some of the chances when we create them.”

Evatt had announced he was looking to introduce a more aggressive pressing game in pre-season, having seen some opposition teams sit deep and frustrate his side too often.

He believes there has been progress, and that Wanderers are now learning how to cope against different styles of play.

“I think we are getting there,” he said. “Predominantly we are an in-possession team and we want to control the game, break teams down, play through the lines. But sometimes it is not that easy and you are going have off-days with the ball, especially when you come up against the low block. You then need to become more dangerous without the ball.

“When the opposition regain possession and look to open up their shape a little bit then you need to be able to press, win the ball high up the pitch and play forwards in transition to break through and penetrate.

“That is where you become really dangerous and we are starting to see the fruits of the hard work in the summer on the training ground.”