IAN Evatt WILL be on the touchline in Saturday’s game against Wigan Athletic after the Football Association opted not to suspend him for his midweek red card against Fleetwood.

The Bolton boss has been hit by a £1,000 fine for the “mis-use of technology” – but had a video call with referee Tom Nield and Select Group Two chief Kevin Friend at lunchtime to go over the details of the incident.

Dion Charles will miss the Wigan game, with Wanderers having no recourse to challenge his second yellow card. But Evatt – who became the first manager to be dismissed for the six-year-old rule on the use of electronic communication - hopes his example will stop other managers being hit in the pocket.

“What it has done, for all managers, because I had many of them contact me yesterday and say they didn’t even know it existed, is raised awareness that we are not allowed to mention video at any time,” he said.

“As Pete (Atherton) said for me on Tuesday there was no abuse, no aggression, I literally made reference to the video and it was a rule that none of us were aware of, so if anything, all us managers now know we are not allowed to do that in games.”

He added: “I have become the poster boy for the ‘mis-use of technology – but I am very, very supportive of what the referees are trying to do. I actually have great respect for Tom (Nield) for facing me, facing the music, and being honest and open enough to say he got things wrong.

“We had a great discussion and there is an awful lot of respect there so I think we can all move on now. We wish him well.”

Evatt is looking forward to welcoming Wigan back to the stadium for the first time since October 2021 when his side were dealt an unexpected 4-0 defeat.

“It’s exciting – a great opportunity to right some wrongs,” he said.

“It is a great chance to keep the momentum going and make sure that we keep performing in the same way because when we do, we’re a handful.

“This is obviously huge for us, for the club, for the fans, and for us it is really just focussing not so much on them but the process of a good performance. If we perform well then I think we can win the game.”