THREE months on from the play-off final, another litmus test of Wanderers’ big-game mentality, but one Ian Evatt is optimistic his side can now pass.

Questions have been regularly asked of Bolton’s ability to produce results against their biggest rivals and in front of the biggest gates and this afternoon, with potentially the biggest post-Premier League attendance expected for the visit of Wrexham, that theory will once again be examined.

Evatt is well aware of the criticisms that have been labelled at his team for a couple of seasons now but feels some of his new signings and a shift in tactics over the summer could give his players a better chance.

“It’s something we have been aware of when we have looked to recruit, players that thrive on the big stage, really, and don’t fear it. They try to enjoy it. And to enjoy it you need a certain type of character,” he said.

“I think with Scott (Arfield), Szabi (Schön) and John (McAtee) we have players who will embrace the big stage, no doubt about it.

“We have been conscious of that and hopefully we can see a much-improved version of us in the big games this season.”

Wanderers fans need little reminder of Phil Parkinson’s footballing methods, used to great effect in 2016/17 to get them out of League One as runners-up to Sheffield United.

Wrexham featured highly in last season’s set play metrics and bear many of the hallmarks of the Bolton team which reached the Championship and survived for a season against the backdrop of crippling financial issues and boardroom upheaval.

“They are very good at what they do,” Evatt said. “And as I have said before there is no right or wrong way – it’s just find a way to win football matches, because that is all that matters.

“There are probably two different football ideologies and we’ll have to cope with theirs, and make sure they find it difficult to cope with ours. That’s the game of football, right?

“Two teams play different ways but whoever executes the plan best on the day is going to win.”

Wanderers have themselves switched to a slightly different shape this season, now playing two supporting strikers behind a number nine. But Evatt says he could still change things further against Wrexham to cope with the particular threats they offer.

“We are aware of what Wrexham will bring and even the tweaks we have made, tactically, we will have to adapt to cope with the questions we know they will ask us,” he said.

“We have changed tactically even though the ideology remains the same, and I think that is where we will progress. The 3-5-2 we played for two-and-half years, and the end version was pretty good. When we got it right we annihilated teams at times but when we got it wrong it was difficult for us to change and be flexible.

“This is a new version of that and we can remain fluid and flexible. If we have to go back to that, we can, but this is a different way of doing it.

“I think at the start, just having more bodies in the middle and central makes the game a little more secure and less transitional, and that is important for us.”