Ian Evatt is relishing the challenge of facing Premier League opposition when Everton come to town.

The Toffees are gearing up for another season in the top flight after Sean Dyche led them to survival last term.

It is a big step up in opposition for Wanderers, who faced Bradford and Salford in their last couple of friendlies.

But Evatt believes the experience will be good for his squad as the new League One campaign draws nearer.

“We are not making it easy for ourselves with Everton and West Brom, but we want to be challenged and tested,” he told The Bolton News.

“There are a lot of things I think we are doing right, and some things we still need some work on. Obviously, the group is getting stronger all the time.

“Zac Ashworth has only been with us for two days and he can flip between wing-back and centre-back. I thought we saw some good things from him (against Salford).

“Will Forrester is still getting used to what we do and how we do it. As I said, we will keep improving and getting ready for Lincoln.”

Everton enter the fixture on the back of wins against Wigan and Swiss outfit FC Stade Nyonnais.

“That is what we want, we want to have difficult games and challenges,” the Bolton boss continued.

“We have built through pre-season nicely to date and other than Jon (Dadi Bodvarsson), we have not had too many more injuries so fingers crossed, we can keep them all fit and healthy.

“It will be a good challenge on Tuesday and we will see where that takes us. We will attack the game as we always do and hope for a good test.”

The new season is less than two weeks away, and Evatt reckons his side have made progress over the past few weeks.

But he admits it is tough to make assessments in pre-season and ultimately it all goes “out the window” on the opening day.

“It is hard to know where we are at,” he explained. “I am seeing improvements with some of the things we are doing.

“Obviously, we have had a little bit of change with the goalkeeping department and some new players.

“Sometimes that can take time for them to integrate. Sometimes you are hopeful that their football education can get them up to speed quicker than usual.

“I think we are a good football team and we have to go out there and prove it.

“There are lots of things that can be said in pre-season but come 3pm on the first game of the season, it all goes out the window and you have to earn the right once again. We will be doing all we can to try to earn the right.”