Ian Evatt is well aware of the expectancy that will be at Bolton Wanderers next season to be in the top six in League One but the Whites boss is looking forward to that challenge.
Wanderers finished last season ninth in League One and are aiming to build on that positive result as a newly promoted team in the new campaign. The club is aiming to mount a promotion charge and target the top six at least.
The Whites are due to return for pre-season training on June 17, before jetting out to Portugal for a training camp a few days later on June 19. Wanderers boss Evatt hopes to have the squad fundamentally in place by the start of pre-season in terms of getting their transfer window business done early.
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That has already begun with the acquisition of defender Jack Iredale on a free transfer from Cambridge United. He has signed a three-year deal with Wanderers and more incomings are being sought.
Wanderers finished the 2021/22 campaign some 10 points from the play-offs after an outside charge for the top six in the second half of the season ultimately left Evatt's side with too much to do. Bolton secured ninth place with a 4-2 victory over Fleetwood Town, coupled with Portsmouth suffering defeat at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday, on the last day of the campaign.
League One looks like it will be just as competitive in 2022/23 as it was in 2021/22. Alongside Wanderers in the division for sure next campaign include Sheffield Wednesday, Portsmouth, Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic, MK Dons, Derby County, Barnsley and Peterborough United, to name a few.
Evatt believes his side will not be at the top end of League One in terms of spending power and knows there will be an expectation on his side for the top six next season. But that is something he wants as well and is embracing the challenge it poses as he aims to get the club back further up the football pyramid.
He said: “We’re never going to be anymore a club that spends at the top end of this division, we’re not going to be that club, but we can be smart and strategic with how we do things. I understand the size of the club, I understand the history, I’m very respectful of that and there’s always going to be an expectancy here, there’s no doubt about it.
“But I’m pleased with where we’re heading and how we’re getting there and I understand that my job is to get to this club back to where it belongs and there’s only so much give that the supporters leeway will give me and we want to get there now and it’s not achievable this season.
"But next season I think everyone’s going to be looking at us and expect us to be in that top six, myself included, so bring it on. I enjoy pressure, I think I work best under pressure so let’s do it.”
