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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
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John McDougall

'Just don't like it' - Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt on Port Vale 'drama' & officials verdict

Ian Evatt admits he does not like the 'drama' that comes with playing Port Vale at Vale Park following the hard fought goalless draw for his Bolton Wanderers team and vowed the club will work with skipper Ricardo Santos to get over his dismissal.

Wanderers could have taken the lead early on but Dapo Afolayan's effort was parried wide by Jack Stevens. But the Whites were reduced to 10 men when Ricardo Santos was shown a second yellow card.

Santos was shown his first following Nathan Smith going to ground from a corner. But controversy followed with his second booking by referee Ross Joyce which appeared to be harsh after Ellis Harrison appeared to go to ground easily.

READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers player ratings vs Port Vale - Manchester City loanee James Trafford & Jack Iredale good

After the break, Aaron Morley called Stevens into action with a fantastic save. The Valiants were the more dominant side but Trafford came to their aid with a sublime stop from Harrison as Wanderers held out to claim a point.

He felt the save Trafford made from Harrison was one of the few big chances Vale created as he felt the hosts 'ran out' of ideas. With the nature of the game at Vale Park, Evatt believes that type of encounter is something he always encounters there and it is not something he likes.

He said: “One top save, I think. Other than that, nothing really to speak of. I thought they ran out of ideas, were devoid of ideas. I’m more disappointed because I think we would have gone on to win this game. I think with the changes we could have made with 11 on in the second half, the way we were attacking them, they posed very little threat and we’ve come away with a draw.

“I spoke about this in the week, every time I come here it’s this type of game. It’s just one of those things and everytime we come here, we get embroiled in that type of game and it’s that kind of drama. I just don’t like it.”

Evatt was shown a red card in the tunnel at half-time and Wanderers are poised to report the officials to the FA following that. Though Santos feels that being sent off was personal owing to referee Ross Joyce doing the same against Morecambe last season, Evatt stressed that was not the case and Wanderers will work with his captain to manage him and make sure he understands that is not the case.

He said: “I’m not going to speak again about the officials because I’m already in enough trouble, so we’ll file a report, we’ll do everything we need to do. We know what’s happened and we’ve got witnesses to what’s happened and it’s as simple as that.

“We’ll file reports and see how we go.

“I think he’s really upset and he’s heartbroken. He feels it was the Morecambe red card last season, same referee, red card again this season. He feels it’s personal so we’ve got to manage him, makes sure he understands it’s not that and he’s just been on the rough side of things today.

“We’ll support him, as we will them all, and get ready for Tuesday.”

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