IAN Evatt did not wish to be judged on his team’s result against Birmingham City, a team he felt was an outlier in League One by virtue of their record summer spending.

From here to the next international break in November, he may have no choice in the matter.

The midweek defeat at St Andrew’s was itself a unique 90 minutes – one in which the Bolton boss turned his regular possession-based philosophy on its head and surrendered much of his team’s attacking intent until the final stages.

Had the plan worked, a point been salvaged in an improved second half display, then the conversation leading into this weekend’s meeting with Peterborough United might have been along more positive lines.

Evatt briefly brought up the argument against his lack of ‘Plan B’ in his post-match assessment at St Andrew’s, pointing to the first hour of the game as an example that his team can hunker down and defend when required. But hailing the success of his gameplan was a hard sell, particularly to those who feel team selection was somewhat subservient for a club with automatic promotion ambitions of their own.

Based purely on the evidence presented since the start of the season, Birmingham are out on their own. If we are to group Bolton with the other 23 clubs, then only one automatic place is now up for grabs and Evatt’s side need to show they are the best of the rest.

Three league and two cup games remain before the next break and many supporters require convincing that this squad can do what last season’s group could not.

Common wisdom dictates that results against ‘top six rivals’ are where Wanderers have tripped-up in the past. Last term the club’s record read: Won two, drawn six, lost two; a season earlier, Bolton won three, drew four and lost three. In two campaigns which ended in play-off defeat the Whites have won five of 20 games against the teams the league table lists as their direct competitors.

Peterborough United have been one of those opponents for the last two seasons, and arguably the one against which Evatt has enjoyed the most success.

After doing the double over Posh in 2022/23, including a memorable 5-0 win at London Road, two frantic draws followed last term, the last of which crystalised the play-off path that would eventually finish up in disappointment at Wembley.

Posh, like Bolton, have experienced an underwhelming start, their free-flowing attack often stymied by a leaky defence. No team in the EFL have scored more goals than Darren Ferguson’s team in 2024 but predictability has been their downfall.

They led 2-1 at Birmingham at the end of last month, only to lose the game 3-2, and heavy defeats at Wigan Athletic and Wycombe Wanderers have followed since, but when their young, pacy attack is firing, the results can still be exciting to watch, just as Blackpool, who were vanquished 5-1 in midweek.

Two of the goals on Tuesday night came from Joel Randall, a player for whom Wanderers made two considerable bids in the summer. The attacking midfielder had been seen as the ideal man to spark a ‘new look’ Bolton but Posh owner Darragh MacAnthony went on public record to say he did not want to do business with a club he considered a promotion rival.

Neither club has done much to warrant MacAnthony’s haughty definition over the first quarter of this season, but both will still harbour an ambition to be around the top six by the time the next international hiatus arrives in November.

Wanderers go to Stevenage on Tuesday, then travel to Stockport County after the FA Cup weekend, all with the purpose of ensuring the league table makes better reading over the break.