IAN Evatt knows Wanderers must cut out the mistakes if they are to finish the week on the same high they started it.
Bolton contributed to their own downfall at Arsenal on Wednesday night with a few errors which were punished ruthlessly by the Premier League title-chasers.
And though Evatt says the 5-1 scoreline will be brushed off quickly, he accepts there are aspects of the performance that his team cannot afford to carry through to Saturday lunchtime when they face Crawley.
“The score isn’t going to sting – it’s more bittersweet because it was self-inflicted,” he told The Bolton News.
“It doesn’t matter if you are playing at Crawley or Arsenal, you can’t make those mistakes and there were probably two or three, if you include Luke Southwood letting it through him.
“We need to iron out those errors and mistakes and make sure when we get those opportunities we take them.”
Wanderers made seven changes at the Emirates and will switch every position possible for the Saturday lunchtime kick-off at the Broadfield Stadium. But they are now down to bare bones at centre-half with the news that Chris Forino has picked up a hamstring injury, the extent of which is not yet known.
Up front, the Bolton boss took some solace from the performance of John McAtee and goalscorer Aaron Collins, who had both been left out against Reading in favour of Dion Charles and Victor Adeboyejo.
“That was the game for Saturday, the type I thought it was going to be suited Dion and Victor, and the result and scoreline spoke volumes,” he said.
“Aaron and John are huge for us and they are different to the threat that Dion and Victor give us. They were the biggest positives for me.
“I thought the front two looked sharp and lively, they created and caused a few problems. I was pleased with those guys.
“It has given us an opportunity to look at one or two things. I’m disappointed Chris got injured because that’s us down to bare minimum at the back at the moment but we have some returning soon.
“People gave us zero hope and I was probably in that camp having watched them a few times so we will look to move on and get ready for Saturday.
“It is hard to criticise the players because against the ball they have had to run their socks off and we just need to focus all our powers of recovery on Saturday now. That was the reason for changes, to keep people fresh.”
Evatt also thanked the 4,000-strong support who stayed to the end to cheer the team off the pitch after a tough night.
“They (the fans) were amazing and hopefully, regardless of the scoreline, they have enjoyed it. We didn’t just camp, we tried to attack and be selective with the way we attacked and tried to press.
“We did have some moments, we scored, which was also important. It was a fast counter and a great finish from Aaron, who I thought looked sharp.”
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