Bolton Wanderers manager Ian Evatt has confirmed that he has set his team a points target to reach by January and has insisted that the club are in a good position to achieve some positive results this month.

After securing a ninth place finish in the League One standings earlier this year, Wanderers have managed to produce some encouraging performances at this level during the current campaign.

As a result of their recent triumph over Fleetwood Town, Bolton moved up to fifth in the table and are currently 10 points adrift of the automatic promotion places.

Evatt's side will be looking to back up this aforementioned triumph when they host Bristol Rovers at the University of Bolton Stadium this evening.

Bolton know that they will need to be firing on all cylinders in this fixture as the Gas have managed to avoid defeat in their clashes with Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth Argyle and Peterborough United this season.

Ahead of this fixture, Evatt has stressed the importance of achieving success in this particular period of the season.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Evatt said: "December does tend, historically, to be the time for movers and shakers.

"You have a good month, a good Christmas, then it tends to put you in a good position for the rest of the season.

"We haven't found that so far - it has been a tough time of year for me - but I think we are in a much better position this time around.

"We have spoken about it.

"I have set us a challenge and a points target to get by January and hopefully we can reach that.

"If we do, we'll be right in the mix come the business end of the tournament."

 

 

The Verdict

When you consider that Bolton lost both of the league games that they participated in last December, they will be determined to pick up as many points as possible this month.

Set to play five league games between now and the end of 2022, it will be interesting to see whether Wanderers will be able to embark on a winning run.

In order for Bolton to remain in contention for a play-off place, they will need the likes of Dapo Afolayan, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Dion Charles to deliver the goods in an attacking sense.

This particular trio have scored a combined total of 12 goals this season and are expected to feature for the club in tonight's showdown with the Gas.