WANDERERS are hoping for the best after Eoin Toal limped out of last night’s 4-1 win at Stevenage.

The Northern Ireland defender pulled up in the first half after chasing down an opponent and was clearly in distress as he hobbled back down the tunnel.

Evatt is already missing defenders Gethin Jones and Jordi Osei-Tutu until after next month’s international break, and Chris Forino until the end of the year.

The Wanderers boss is now hoping that Toal’s absence will be a matter of weeks, rather than months.

“It is his hamstring,” he confirmed. “We are just praying it isn’t another tendon because they are the nasty ones.

“We hope it is just the muscle, which really simplifies it and brings down the length of time he’ll be absent for. Fingers crossed, everyone say a prayer it isn’t a tendon.”

Will Forrester came on to replace Toal, faring well in what was another solid defensive display.

Ricardo Santos put in another man of the match performance, also scoring the first goal of the day, and Evatt was also full of praise for the rest of his back line.

“I think Jonno has gone under the radar a little bit, he was out for such a long time but I actually think he has got better, improved. It is great credit to him and the way he worked when he was injured,” he said.

“There is more to come too. Luke Southwood didn’t put a foot wrong again, he was cool and calm in possession, Jay Matete and Josh Sheehan dictated and dominated the ball in midfield, there was a lot to like about that.

“But we cannot get carried away because we know we haven’t reached our potential level yet. We have to work hard to make sure it happens.”

Wanderers were also clinical in attack, scoring with four of the six shots they put on target on the night.

Tactically, it was another victory for the 3-4-3 formation that Evatt championed at the start of the season.

Although he initially experienced problems settling he new formation in with the squad, improvements over the last couple of games give him reason to think he can toggle between the tried-and-tested 3-5-2 and a shape which works better against sides who employ a back four.

“We looked dangerous on Saturday but didn’t take the chances, here we did, but we had more moments and opportunities where we could have been more ruthless and clinical,” he said.

“The one thing the summer has brought is a different shape and dimension. We can flit in between those two, and there is a key difference. Yes, I know we are still a back three but having a box or playing 3-5-2 is very different.

“The personnel we have at the moment have gone into that box shape the last couple of games, especially against back fours, and it has really helped us.

“It is good we have that other option and we’ll continue to work on both structures and shapes to get better.”