Bolton Wanderers boss makes goal plea for Shrewsbury clash

At time of writing, the 109 goals scored in all competitions this term puts them joint-second with the 1934/1935 Bolton team, which also gained promotion to the top division after finishing second behind Brentford.

Todd’s legendary team bid farewell to Burnden Park with a title, 100 league goals, and so nearly cinched the treble with 99 points.

Evatt’s team has been up there with the leading scorers in the country, yet questions have been posed about their ability to find goals in the high-pressured games.

Colin Todd and Phil Brown on the touchline at Burnden Park (Image: Newsquest)

It proved the case again on Saturday when automatic promotion was taken out of their own hands by a 1-1 draw against Portsmouth, a succession of missed chances eventually handing the advantage back to Derby County.

Evatt acknowledged the issue but said he would keep faith that his players could find answers.

Asked how he could improve that attacking return, he said: “Replicating those scenarios and the chaos in the final third is a really challenging thing to do. All we can do is show them the clips, go though the stuff on the training ground and try to go over those things as often as we can.

“I find it quite difficult to criticise when we have scored so many goals this season, and this has probably been a problem for a few years now – creating so much and not taking advantage.

“This season I think we have seen an improvement in our creativity. A lot of the conversations last year were ‘you’re finding it hard against a low block’ but those scenarios have gone. We are more creative.

“But we do have to remember that we are a League One football club with – at the moment – League One football players. They are going to make mistakes.

“If you see the top players at Liverpool making mistakes at the weekend then I am sure our lads can do the same. Nobody means to miss them, we just have to try and have belief and confidence in those moments.

“But you are right, in the big games, going all the way back to Portsmouth and Dion’s big chance, the game away at Derby, those moments and chances are the ones we have missed and it is something we need to improve on.

“It is a collective responsibility, there were defenders on the pitch on Saturday who missed chances as well as midfielders.

“Fingers crossed we can start taking some more of them now.”

Aaron Collins celebrates a goal in the 5-2 win against Reading (Image: Camerasport)

Wanderers had rattled five goals past Oxford United and Reading in the previous two home games and had got practically everything else right against Pompey.

“We started poorly, and that is unlike us at home,” he said. “We looked edgy and nervous, gave them a silly goal in transition from a throw in, and made it tough for ourselves.

“The players responded great but we are one behind, if we had got that first goal, it really gives them the confidence to get more. Saturday we just didn’t execute when we made the chances.

“Speaking to the players this morning, I said our creativity and our level of performance was no different to the Oxford game – obviously against a better team, so it makes it a slightly better performance, but we can’t go from scoring five in back-to-back home games to creating the same number of opportunities and only getting one.

“There has to be a level of consistency that we strive to improve on.”

Wanderers face Shrewsbury Town at the Toughsheet Stadium tonight, hoping to put themselves back to within a point of Derby with two games to play.

Victory is a must against a team which has edged six points outside the relegation zone and should be safe in League One for another season.

Paul Hurst took over from ex-Bolton midfielder Matt Taylor in January and has won four of his 15 games in charge to date.

Evatt expects to face the same sort of challenge from the Shrews as they offered back in November when goals from Paris Maghoma and Aaron Morley earned a 2-0 win at the Greenhous Meadow.

“I think they are quite similar,” he said. “They are robust, hard to beat, dangerous from set plays. I know Matt Taylor well, he is a great guy and we used to speak quite often, and I know it was very tough for him. Management can sometimes be a lonely place and it is unfortunate they moved on from that.

“But I had a good chat to Paul last week and he is facing the same sort of challenges, we all do, it is a tough task being a football manager. But they have done well to stabilise and make sure they are clear of the relegation zone. They probably want one or two more points to make it definite.

“I do think they are safe right now and I think they will come here with a freedom to cause an upset. We have to be ready for that.”