Ian Evatt believes Bolton Wanderers have improved from last season but admits there is a tinge of frustration over not having the points on the board he feels they should.
Wanderers sit fifth in the table heading into Saturday's games. The Whites are not in action owing to their clash on the road against Portsmouth being called off due to international call-ups.
The Whites went into the international break on the back of three straight League One wins. These include against Charlton Athletic MK Dons and most recently Peterborough United, sides who harbour aspirations of being among the pack of teams challenging for promotion this season.
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Wanderers picked up a point on the opening day of the season against Ipswich Town too, but have tasted defeat against Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle. Evatt says he remains 'frustrated' with the second half showing at Portman Road and aspects of the losses against the Pilgrims and the Owls.
He believes Wanderers ought to have more points on the board than they do at present. But he believes that his side have improved from six months ago and are being granted respect by opponents, though it brings challenges.
Evatt said: “I’m still frustrated with that (Ipswich point), I really am. I think first half we were excellent, second half I think we let ourselves down a little bit. I don’t think we’ve got the points we should have.
"I think our performances have generally been really good. The Plymouth game still irks me because that was a good performance, we shouldn’t have lost that game and then five minutes of madness against Sheffield Wednesday.
“Fundamentally I think we’ve improved and that was the most important thing. We finished really strong last season and we had lots of expectation, lots of people giving us the respect that we feel we’re due now, but also that brings its own complications because people expect you to win on Saturday.
"People are giving you respect at home and away and they get themselves up because they know we’re a difficult team to play against but the challenge was to improve again from that last six months and I do feel like we have, which is important.”
Wanderers return to action next Saturday at home against Lincoln City. It kicks off a very busy month for the League One side with eight games in all competitions.
Evatt believes the next month could form the bedrock of Bolton's season. He believes it is a chance to see where it takes the club as they put the graft in.
He said: “I think it’s the nitty gritty now. This is the real winter months, this is where you’ve got to roll your sleeves up, get your head down and grind and graft away. We’ll all do that and see where it takes us.”
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