Evatt: Ground-staff The Winners

Boss Ian Evatt reserved special praise for the behind-the-scenes effort that provided the platform for his side to produce another power-packed performance.

Wanderers cruised to a 4-0 win over AFC Wimbledon with a fifth successive home victory edging Evatt’s men closer to the League One play-off spots.

But it needed a full morning’s work from club staff to get the game on as they cleared the playing surface of snow to make the pitch playable.

“I thought man of the match and performance of the day was the ground staff, the volunteers and the stewards for everything they did to enable us to get this game on,” said Evatt.

“Sometimes they don’t get the credit they deserve but I’m so appreciative of what they did today.

Image removed.

“That made a huge difference to us. The pitch was immaculate and we enjoyed ourselves out there today.

“It’s a big team effort and we’ve seen with everyone today it takes everybody.

“This is one club, one town…all of that. It comes to fruition on days like this.”

A couple of hours of heavy snow in the morning had led to a white-out at the University of Bolton Stadium.

There was then a near avalanche of goals as Wanderers got the all-clear to rattle in four without reply once Jon Dadi Bodvarsson had set the ball rolling with his first goal for the club before half time.

Top scorer Dapo Afolayan added his 13th of the season after the break before Dion Charles and Amadou Bakayoko continued their goalscoring runs to cap an impressive performance.

The in-form Whites have now won seven of their last nine games, although Evatt felt the margin of victory could have been even more emphatic.

Image removed.

“I thought we were good, although I still think there’s loads more,” added the Wanderers’ manager.

“In the second half we were enjoying ourselves and expressing ourselves, which is great when you’re three or four-nil up.

“But when you smell blood I always want more.

“I thought we over-expressed ourselves at times. But I’m nit-picking when we’ve won 4-0 and I’m complaining. I just think there’s so much more to come from this team.

“There’s loads to improve on. This is a brand-new team, playing a brand-new shape and system for them and their only going to get better, which is exciting.”

Wanderers are now seven points away from a play-off place and with another home game to come against Lincoln City next Tuesday night, Evatt knows his side can’t let-up.

“We set ourselves a target, which I haven’t shared with anybody. That’s another win towards that target. We’re still a long way short,” he said.

“With 13 games to go there are lots to points to play for but we need to win games.”

Meanwhile, Evatt confirmed that midfielder Kieran Lee is to undergo surgery on his heel injury but could be back at the start of April to further his options for the end-of-season run-in.

Watch the manager's post-match interview HERE

Read Time: 3 mins