Bolton boss Ian Evatt on dramatic Burton win, Jon Dadi…

Bolton boss Ian Evatt on dramatic Burton win, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson winner & Brewers game plan

Bolton Wanderers came from behind again as Jon Dadi Bodvarsson came off the bench to fire home a dramatic injury time winner in a 2-1 victory at home.

Dapo Afolayan and Aaron Morley both saw efforts go off target in the early stages as Wanderers started brightly. But the Whites were unable to carve out many clear cut opportunities in a frustrating first half they had much of the ball for against a Burton side which struggled to create much.

After the break, despite Wanderers continuing to dominate but creating few opportunities to speak of, the visitors took the lead. Sam Hughes headed home off the far post from Terry Taylor's corner.

Amadou Bakayoko struck as full-time approached to level for the hosts past Ben Garratt. Kieran Lee hit the post in stoppage time, but Bodvarsson fired home through a crowded penalty area after the Brewers failed to clear a corner and hand Wanderers a huge three points which sees the Whites now fifth in the table.

After the match, Bolton boss Ian Evatt spoke to the press and here's his immediate reaction to the dramatic win.

Easy in the end wasn’t it?

“I wish it was! I think when the opposition come with a game plan like that, it’s extremely difficult and I think the first goal becomes vital. We had one or two situations first half, Dapo in particular had a really good chance and if we score, it kind of changes the whole game pattern really. There was disruption, I don’t think the ball was in play very often.

“It disrupted our rhythm. We couldn’t get any type of head of steam up in the second half until they scored, and then all of a sudden, made some changes again and they came on and we were aggressive. We played on the front foot, we had belief, momentum, a bit like Saturday to be honest and when you see Kieran Lee hit the post at 1-1 and Conor Bradley miss a good chance, it would have been easy for the players just to accept it wasn’t their night, but they didn’t.

“They stuck together, they kept going and they deservedly got the winner.”

What was it like for you watching the closing stages?

“To be honest, I have a huge amount of belief in these players and we don’t score late by chance and I keep saying this. If you look at the amount of late goals we get, it’s not by chance. It’s the way we probe, ask questions, and teams find it really difficult to snuff us out for that long.

“I’d almost say the football gods smiled on us because there was only in my opinion one team trying to win and play the right way, there was only one team trying to win the game. They’re ever so dangerous from set plays and we have to give them credit as well because they came and they executed their game plan, whatever it may be, you like it or you don’t, you have to give credit that it was a game plan that was working for a long period of that game, but the players stuck together.

“I’m delighted for those two who have took a bit of stick of late, missed a few opportunities but to come off and impact it like they did off the bench was a lot like the end of last year really.”

Is it another illustration of the strength of the squad?

“Absolutely and now we’ve got everyone fit and available, we’re able to flit inbetween systems and formations. We can constantly evolve and change during a game and make it difficult for the opposition to manage what we’re doing, because they’ll have a set game plan for us being 3-5-2 and if we switch to 4-3-3 for a period of time, which we did for 25 to 30 minutes, it can ask them different questions and we can switch back in game as well.

“Eventually we got a head of steam up and there was only one team going on to win. Unfortunately it wasn’t Kieran or Conor’s chance but big Jon managed to get the winner which was fantastic.”

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