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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
John McDougall

'Blew them away' - Bolton show in Charlton Athletic comeback shows what Wanderers are capable of

Ian Evatt believes that the second half showing from Bolton Wanderers shows what his side are capable of as they 'blew away' Charlton Athletic.

Wanderers went behind at the Valley in the first half thanks to Josh Davison's opener, but Dapo Afolayan equalised on the stroke of half-time.

Kieran Lee then struck twice after the break before skipper Antoni Sarcevic slotted home in injury time as Wanderers picked up three points and moved up to seventh in the League One table.

READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers player ratings vs Charlton Athletic - Dapo Afolayan, Kieran Lee and MJ Williams great

Ian Evatt made a total of four changes before the game and they paid off as he rotated his squad, with 888 travelling Wanderers fans watching their team win at the Valley against the struggling Addicks.

After an initial bright start, the Bolton boss felt his side did not progress with their possession as they normally do and that a half-time telling off in the dressing room, married with information about where to exploit spaces and to lift the intesity, had the desired effect.

And he feels there is still more to come from his outfit this season in League One.

Evatt said: "I thought we started well and we were building from the back really well, but we didn’t progress with our possession as we normally do.

“For whatever reason, just our speed of thought, our speed of movement, our decision making, wasn’t quite there.

"When we got it right and figured out where the space was, the goal came from that and the space first half because they had locked on centrally and went man for man centrally, the space was with our full backs and wide forwards and that rotation they did.

“As soon as we switched the ball quickly and had that rotation and Dapo does not score if Declan doesn’t make that run. Declan attracts the defenders away, Dapo comes inside and scores.

“Second half once we had a go at them at half-time and told them about where the space is and told them to lift the intensity, they blew them away. That’s what they’re capable of, but there’s still so much more to come.

“Football’s a funny game, we played in my opinion better on Saturday and got nothing and today we scored four and that’s just football.

“Everything we spoke about pre-match about not giving them a leg up, not giving their fans something to sing about, we did the opposite and then they gave them a leg up and found it hard for themselves.

“But as I keep saying, this squad of players has immense character and belief in what they do and that rocked us, but then we settled it down, figured it out and then we found a way to win the game.”

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