IAN Evatt thanked the Wanderers fans for their unequivocal support this season and promised to do everything he could to lead the club to success in the future.

After the play-off dream came to an end at Barnsley, the Bolton boss said he would waste no time before turning his attention to the summer recruitment and next year in League One.

Wanderers have progressed in each of his three seasons to date and will be expected to push on once more in August.

Evatt believes the club’s huge support – which stood out a mile even against the celebratory atmosphere at Oakwell on Friday night – will once again play a major part.

“They have been absolutely unbelievable and they were again tonight,” he said.

“I am so proud to be the manager of this football club and I am so proud of this football club at the moment.

“We have done so much right this season but we haven’t had the fairy-tale ending. I, for one, give them my word that I will work relentlessly hard to get this club back to where I believe it belongs. I believe I am the man to do it.

“The support they (the fans) have given me this season has been fantastic, we have given them some great highlights. But this leaves us wanting more.

“Let’s stick together and go again next season.”

Wanderers lifted the Papa Johns Trophy in April at Wembley but failed to book a return trip after two frustrating games against Barnsley six days apart.

While there were fleeting chances to nudge ahead in the first match – Mads Andersen’s goal-saving challenge to deny Dan Nlundulu, for example, the return leg showed some of the areas that Evatt will have to improve on this summer to get the club challenging for the automatic spots.

“Over the two games I don’t think we found our level but still had a lot of control in the game,” he said. “That shows you where we are at as team.

“No disrespect to Barnsley, I think they are really well organised and hard to beat, a danger from set plays, but we managed a lot of that. We didn’t manage one set play in the second leg and lost the game.

“I think that was a real defining moment because it gave Barnsley that sugar to keep going. I think if we had kept the score at 0-0 the game would have opened up and we would have had more chances. Unfortunately for us it wasn’t to be.

“It has been the theme through the season. To be what we want to be – the best out of possession team and our goals against record says we are not far from that – but also be the best in-possession side and score more goals is a really difficult thing to coach and get right. It takes hours and hours and hours on the ground and time to get used to, and we are a way down that journey but it is a long one and we haven’t yet scratched the surface.”