WANDERERS cannot allow their focus to drift away from automatic promotion for the time being, says Ian Evatt.

With the current top four in League One all scheduled to play against each other on Saturday, there are plenty of twists and turns expected before the international break.

Bolton go to Derby, Peterborough host Portsmouth, and Barnsley face Cheltenham Town at home on the final round of games before the long-awaited hiatus.

Wanderers have dropped points recently and suffered a spate of injuries which have raised doubts about their ability to challenge for a top two spot.

Evatt is not entertaining play-off talk for the moment, and remains confident his side can regain consistency.

“At the moment it is a case of focusing on the day ahead,” he said. “Things can change really quickly.

“Portsmouth have a little cushion up there at the moment but it can be eradicated in one week and we have them yet to play too.

“For us, it is focusing on the next game and trying to win it. When you win a game, things do feel a lot different.

“Our aim and ambition is to be promoted, in any way shape or form, and firstly we want to be in that top two, and we will be fighting tooth and nail to try and make that happen.”

Whilst there has been plenty of discussion about Bolton’s injury issues, which were heightened this week with the loss of Victor Adeboyejo for at least a month, the remaining strikers on the books present a different tactical option.

Evatt has often brought on Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Cameron Jerome in the second half of games and prompted his side to play more directly to the front line.

The policy worked to rescue a point at Barnsley and Exeter, and could be a key factor this weekend as Wanderers look to keep themselves in the promotion hunt.

“In game when you are able to switch, it can cause teams a lot of problems,” Evatt said.

“I actually thought first half on Saturday at Exeter was very, very good. The only disappointment from my perspective was the reward again, finishing teams off. Regardless of mistakes then it wouldn’t really matter.

“Everyone makes mistakes in football, you’d never score a goal otherwise.

“Having different strings to our bow is really important and we are going to need that for the remainder of the season. If we can continue to play consistently like we did in the first half on Saturday I don’t think there will be any issues.”

Wanderers have had issues at either end of the pitch in the last few weeks, conceding some avoidable goals and struggling to convert superior possession or territorial advantage into goals at crucial stages of the game.

Improving both aspects, says Evatt, requires a collective effort.

“As always I tell the players the truth,” said Evatt, “and I did after the game at Exeter. “We all understand it was two points dropped but having said that they also deserve some praise for the character they showed to get themselves back into the game again.

“Their first goal was a really poor one to concede but we didn’t reset, and that is another lesson we need to learn.

“As a collective, not individuals, we need to take responsibility for all aspects of the game. We have conceded too many goals in recent weeks and we haven’t put enough chances away either. That isn’t down to defenders with clean sheets or strikers for not scoring, it is everyone and we all have to improve.

“At some stage everyone has been written off. Portsmouth had a wobble prior to Christmas, Peterborough did not so long back and have now regrouped again, Derby did too but now seem to be going well again, and we have had a little bit of a wobble too and I have no doubt we will also regroup. I will also say we are in a really strong position to do that. We are still in the mix.

“I know how much these players want it, so we will keep going, we will focus strongly on this week and try to get the results we need, and then I think things will get better for us.”