Wanderers have been urged to get on the front foot at Cambridge and continue a fearsome record as leaders.

Ian Evatt revealed yesterday that of the last 32 times his side had scored the first goal in games under his management, 29 ended up as wins, and another three were drawn.

His opposite number Mark Bonner also discussed the importance of the opening goal this week in reference to the U’s fragile recent confidence levels.

Evatt admits his side has too often played into opponents’ hands by allowing them to disrupt their own tempo, tracing the problem back to defeat at Cheltenham last month.

“Our record after scoring first speaks for itself – I just hope I haven’t jinxed that now,” he said. “But you need to win games in different ways and it would make things easier if we get that first goal.

“The blueprint I see for nearly every opponent was created at Cheltenham. You stay in games, try and get ahead, frustrate, disrupt, stop momentum, stop them playing through the middle. We have to stop that by being better ourselves and that means getting that first goal, starting games quicker, not being more pragmatic but definitely being more streetwise, especially in the first 15 minutes.

“It is never going to be straightforward, though, and you have to show resilience. You need to show you can come back from adversity and I think we did show that against Burton and Accrington in October.

“In November we’d like to get ahead, start fast, go from there.”

Evatt’s preferred expansive style of play does rely heavily on his players having confidence on the ball – something which has lacked at times in the last month.

The Bolton boss believes things can improve this weekend at Cambridge by doing the basic things right on the pitch.

“Confidence is a really strange thing and it takes ages to build up and it can go off the back of one result – and that applies to players and supporters,” he said.

“I just think we really need to stick together, good times and bad – and it is easy to forget we have had some good ones too.

“We know there is huge expectancy, we know there is huge pressure playing here, but that is a privilege and we need players who embrace it.

“We do need them to be confident but only the players can create that.

“Football is a simple game complicated by people like me. The fact is it’s 11 v 11, one against one, and if you win seven or eight of those key individual battles then predominantly you win matches, so that is the attitude we need this Saturday.”