IAN Evatt reckons his Wanderers hit their “absolute best” in their 4-2 win at Northampton Town, which lifts them to 11th spot in League One.

Winning a third consecutive game for the first time in the calendar year, Bolton raced into a four-goal lead through John McAtee, George Thomason, Eoin Toal and Dion Charles.

Two late consolations took the shine off the performance somewhat and left Evatt feeling slightly frustrated after the final whistle.

“It has taken the gloss off it a bit for me because I think it was a bit of complacency, over-confidence, I don’t know. Long term it is a reminder that will serve us well that we can’t switch off,” he said of the late goals for Tom Eaves and Jon Guthrie.

“For 90 minutes it was a lot like us. We were fluid, good movement, pressing was intelligent, it was a very good away performance.”

Evatt and his side came under fire for a slow start to the season but have seen an upturn in results after switching back to a 3-5-2 system.

“I think we have reset and reminded ourselves of who we are and who we want to be,” the manager said.

“We don’t need to change into something we are not. There wasn’t a lot broken last season and all the noise from inside, sometimes outside, was that we needed to change, do we have to have plan B etc.

“There are things we can tweak within this system but we have reminded the players what we can do, what we are good at, and in the last few games we have seen it in spells but this was the most consistent performance where we were at our absolute best at times, first goal and second goal in particular.”

This week has also seen the spotlight turned on defender Ricardo Santos after abusive messages were sent to him and his family over the last few weeks.

The 29-year-old had refused acknowledge supporters in the last couple of games but after receiving raucous backing from the 633 travelling fans at Northampton, he did applaud them after the final whistle.

“Football is tough,” Evatt said. “You have highs and lows but it is how you manage the lows that defines you as an individual, a team and a collective, and we have tried to respond in the right way. Our focus now is on a huge game against Shrewsbury on Saturday.

“Winning games is tough, and we have learned that harsh lesson at the start of the season. We are not going to rest on our laurels, we’ll refresh and energise. It has been a tough three away games in six days, different types of places, lots of travelling – and I have to say a massive thankyou to our supporters, they travelled in number, backed the team and supported Rico, which I know meant a lot to him, personally.

“This club is a much better place when it is together, so let’s try and keep it that way as best we can.”