Bolton Wanderers have had a very impressive first season in League One and with some smart recruitment in the summer, they will be confident of building a more credible top six push next term.

Ian Evatt's men conducted some excellent business in the January transfer window and have lightened their workload heading into the summer as a result.

Evatt explained how Bolton are approaching the upcoming window when he spoke to The Bolton News.

He said: "I think we are at a stage now where we are pretty happy with what we’ve got.

"We know where we need to improve.

"We have highlighted those areas and there have been conversations taking place as to how we make those positions better but it really is cherry picking now.

"We are getting to the stage where we can really be picky as to who we bring in and in what positions because we feel like generally the squad is in a good place.

"We know where we need players and we know how many of those players are and we’ve already had the discussions.

"It is all systems go, really.

"Now it’s about getting the right ones in and I think the last two Januarys we have proven we can get the right ones in, regardless of their historical records.

"It seems every time we sign a striker, everyone looks at their goalscoring record and says they can’t hit a barn door, and then all of a sudden they start scoring for us!

"We mustn’t just judge a book by its cover, we spend a lot of time and a do a lot of due diligence on recruiting players.

"There is always an element of risk but we try and limit that risk as best we can.

"Long may that continue and we hope there will be some exciting work happening during the summer."

It does seem like Bolton will be one club that could complete their business early on in the window, it will be interesting to see which positions Evatt is targeting.

The Verdict

 

 

The Trotters' form since the turn of the year suggests that the current squad would be capable of pushing for the top six once again next season.

However, with some potential outgoings, that it seems like Evatt has planned for, they will need to freshen up the squad to ensure injuries do not hurt them where they did this term.

The Trotters are very ambitious, as they should be in League One, and the form they showed after the January transfer window demonstrated that they are capable of being involved in the promotion mix next season.

Getting their business done early will be crucial, in giving Evatt time to get across his bold style of play to the new additions.