The Wanderers squad will be able to spend Christmas Day with their families ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Derby.

Ian Evatt’s men welcome the Rams to the University of Bolton Stadium in front of the TV cameras and will be aiming to consolidate their place in the top six.

Derby are just a point behind the Whites at this stage and are unbeaten in their last eight league matches.

Evatt revealed the squad will be training on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day and insists they will be “working tirelessly” to prepare for the fixture.

“Footballers and people in the industry, obviously we are very privileged to have the occupation we do,” said the Bolton boss.

“There are millions who would like to swap places, and a lot of people see it as a privileged position. But along with that comes sacrifice, and that is the case at this time of year for footballers and their families.

“We are in every single day apart from Christmas day, we will be working tirelessly to get the results we want for this football club and that we feel we deserve. We are just going to do all we can to make the fans happy.

“We know we are not the only ones making sacrifices at this time of the year. But what we do know is it’s a very difficult period for us, and we have got to concentrate fully on it and give everything we have got.”

Paul Warne – who led Rotherham to promotion last season - took charge at Pride Park back in September.

“Both teams have had a decent record over the last six or seven games,” Evatt added. “We know what we are going to face.

“We know all about their manager, he is a very successful manager at this level.

“We respect them completely but like always, we are focused on ourselves and trying to implement our gameplan on the opposition.”

The match is set to be Wanderers’ biggest home gate of the season so far, and the boss is keen to get as many people through the door as possible.

“I haven’t seen a sell-out here since I have been manager. Obviously, the first season that was impossible because of the pandemic,” he explained.

“But since then, we have not had a sell-out and I would love to see it full to the rafters. Everyone keeps telling me about the atmosphere in the Premier League days and I would love to hear it.

“I love playing here and I love being a part of this football club, so let’s just get as many through the door as we possibly can and hopefully put on a good performance and entertain.”