AS a pivotal December schedule gets underway at Wanderers, Ian Evatt has issued a plea to supporters to stick with the club and reserve judgements for the end of the season.

Though the Bolton boss accepts the going has been “bumpy” over the course of the first 16 games, he feels there is some disparity between how the club’s start has been viewed inside the club and by parts of the fanbase.

Mansfield Town come to the Toughsheet Stadium tonight for the first of six league games before the turn of the New Year, after which Evatt has plans to strengthen his squad in the January transfer window.

And though Evatt says he will absorb whatever frustration is being carried on the terraces, he has asked that the fans keep faith with the promotion chase still ongoing.

Asked if the first few months of the campaign has been viewed differently inside the dressing room than it has on the terraces, he told The Bolton News.

“It is mixed, I would say, we know we haven’t played our best football and we are not where we want to be, so we know we have to be better to get there. But I don’t think it has been disastrous, either, because we have just taken 23 points from 11 games, which is title-winning form in any season.

“I know we didn’t start great, and the first four games have meant we are chasing our tail a little bit, which is fair, and people have huge expectations, and that is because of how we have done in the past.

“But it isn’t a complete disaster, things could be a lot worse. From my perspective – and I am the one who tried to protect and support the players, the staff and myself as best I can – but to play the way we want to play to our absolute best, we need confidence. We need support and we need the fans. I think for a large part of the season they have been brilliant for us but obviously when we are not winning games consistently – and at the start of the season we didn’t, I’d say we should have a couple more points from the last few games too, given the Cambridge result – but this club has achieved things and done things together over the last five years.

“We have been on a journey and it has been incredibly bumpy so far this season but that is football. If Man City can have the run they are on, we certainly can, and we’re not on anything like that bad a run. Sometimes we lose sight of it.

“We have had really poor results where the floor has been too low, the Huddersfield result, the Stockport result, and that has probably increased the emotion at times.

“But all I can say is that we are all trying our absolute best and we absolutely love this football club and giving it our all. At the end of the season I think we will be there or thereabouts, it is just about staying the course and not a week-to-week result.

“The message is please stick with us, please believe in us, because I think we have shown we know what we are doing and we can get results consistently in this division.”

Evatt underlined that he is not criticising the support his team has had so far, nor the criticism that has followed some of the heavy defeats this season. He also accepts that the play-off final defeat in May has had a knock-on effect on the mood which has yet to clear entirely.

“I’m not trying to be controversial or provocative, I am just trying to make sure that we are together,” he said. “I have been here nearly five years, I care deeply about what I do, about the ownership group, about the players I work with every day and this fanbase because we have shared an incredible journey.

“We are all trying incredibly hard so that come the end of the season – and that is where we should truly be judged – that we are there or thereabouts. And as it stands, having not played our best football, even though we are on a decent run, we are not a million miles off.

“For now, let’s just stick together. There is a big month coming up, a big transfer window, and as I have said before this league is going to be extremely tight. There is not going to be a runaway, even if there are a couple of teams who are started like a house on fire. Last season we were one of those teams. We know a lot can happen in 30 games of football.”