Ian Evatt is banking on a beefed-up attack bringing success for Wanderers this season.

The Bolton boss has made tactical changes this summer, shifting away from the 3-5-2 formation he has played for the last 18 months towards an adapted 3-4-3.

Initial results have been positive, and Victor Adeboyejo, Dion Charles and Aaron Collins have all hit the back of the net in pre-season.

Evatt says there will be an expectation for his attack to keep firing if Bolton persist with the extra attacker, along with added responsibilities out of possession.

“If we are going to slightly alter what we do and how we do it, playing with three forwards, for instance, then we have to see the benefits of that,” he told The Bolton News.

“I think at times in pre-season you have seen some of the benefits of having that extra man and at times there (at Port Vale) the play was excellent, particularly the first goal. I think it was a thing of beauty.

“Having three forwards will give us a goalscoring threat, so it is good that we have scored a few goals, but equally it is the turnover threat that we want.

“It gives us great opportunities to play forwards quickly, to penetrate, and that is exactly what we are looking to do.”

Collins opening the scoring at Vale Park from close range after a fine flowing move down the right and a cross from Josh Dacres-Cogley.

The Whites finished things off with Charles scoring his first goal since coming back from a knee injury, and another move Evatt feels exemplifies the new approach he is looking to bring in.

“It was a really good move, and we are speaking about that type of thing a lot on the training pitch,” he said.

“Playing into that number 10 pocket to receive and then to pass forwards, and it was excellent work from Klaidi (Lolos) and great movement from Dion as well.

“These are things we speak about regularly and now we want to see them more consistently.”

Meanwhile, Yanic Wildschut could miss out on a return to Wanderers later this month after he was stretchered off in a friendly against Eastleigh.

Wildschut made 18 appearances for the Whites during the 2018/19 campaign while on loan from Norwich.

The 32-year-old spent last season at Exeter, scoring two goals in 35 matches last term as the Grecians finished 13th in League One.

He has extended his stay at St James Park but could now be facing a spell out of action after suffering an injury during the final fixture of pre-season.

“It doesn’t look great,” manager Gary Caldwell told BBC Radio Devon. “Whenever a player goes down when there's no tackle, there's no kind of collision, you fear the worst.

"We don't know what the full extent's going to be so we will just stay really positive, cross our fingers and hope that when he gets the scan later on next week, it is not as bad as we feared. But it doesn't look great.

"Yanic has worked extremely hard over the summer, he came back in great condition.

"I thought he was starting the game really well again so it is a big blow, but it is a blow that we can take in terms of the staff that we have, the players around him.

"Whatever it is, we will support him and get him back as quick as possible."