Ian Evatt hopes the Wanderers fans can act as a 12th man when Cambridge come to town this afternoon.

A bumper crowd is expected as the club celebrates its latest Family Day event, and members of the Bolton squad will bring the Papa Johns Trophy onto the pitch before kick-off against the U’s.

The Whites have opened the South Stand lower tier due to high demand, with around 200 tickets left in the home sections when that decision was made several days ago.

Evatt hopes the crowd can give his players a boost as they aim to take another step towards securing their place in the play-offs.

When asked what his message was to the fans, the Bolton boss said: “These boys need you, there is no denying that. These players need the support, they need you to lift them, they need backing.

“It was unbelievable on Sunday and hopefully Monday, with a sold out Bolton end, we can again take care of our own business and get another three points.

“We certainly need them to do that for us because it makes all the difference, especially coming away from home and having to fight.

“Having 1,000 fans travel down after what was a very expensive day for most on Sunday just shows you the size of this football club and what it means to everyone. We were really proud to be able to give them the three points.”

It is still tight in the League One table, with Wanderers only above Peterborough and Derby on goal difference at this stage.

But they now have a five-point cushion over eighth-place Wycombe, who were beaten 4-0 at Ipswich on Friday afternoon.

Evatt is proud of his players’ efforts against Exeter in difficult circumstances and hopes they can continue to keep building momentum and getting points on the board in the coming weeks.

“We have to sacrifice again and make sure we are doing everything we can to get ourselves ready for Monday,” he added.

“The board have been unbelievable in allowing us to fly down (to Exeter) and we will fly back because that is the best preparation for the players. It gets them home quicker, recovering quicker and ready to go again on Monday.

“It is a lot easier now we have won the game and we are getting the right preparation to recover.

“But I am so proud of the players because they have had to really stand up. Everybody was looking at this as a banana skin. I am really pleased with the shape they are in.

“As I said, that (international) break gave us a chance to re-energise and what I have seen since then has been top drawer.”