Ian Evatt admits that new Bolton Wanderers striker Dion Charles must take any punishment or criticism that follows after the signing issued an apology over historic social media posts.
The 26-year-old became Wanderers' first signing of the January transfer window after joining the club from Accrington Stanley.
He made his Bolton debut last night as he started against Hartlepool United in the Papa John's Trophy.
READ MORE: Ian Evatt's view on Joel Dixon's Bolton Wanderers future after Hartlepool United error
But Charles issued an apology over allegedly homophobic and racist comments made on Twitter which date back to between 2011 and 2013, when the former Accrington striker was a teenager and came to light once again on the social media platform in the build-up to yesterday's loss.
It led to statements from Evatt and Bolton chairman Sharon Brittan condemning the posts but also vowing to support Charles and acknowledging his swift apology.
Speaking after yesterday evening's shock 1-0 loss when Matty Daly scored just before full-time as he pounced on Wanderers stopper Joel Dixon's short pass and rounded the goalkeeper to tap home into an empty net, Evatt admitted he was unsure if the episode was a pre-match distraction.
The FA are investigating the social media posts and Evatt accepts that Charles must take any punishment or criticism that comes his way as a result, as he reiterated the striker has matured greatly since those posts were made and has learned from it.
He said: “Who knows. I don’t know (if off-pitch distraction played a part). Obviously we’ve said what we’ve said. Dion’s apologised. As a football club, that’s not acceptable, we don’t condone anything like that.
"We work really hard with our community and we’re really proud of our community and we’ve said what we’ve said in the statement really says it all.
“We’re disappointed and Dion has to take any punishment or any criticism that comes his way on the chin, but what I will say for him is he was a young man.
"It was a long time ago and he’s matured and he’s learnt a lot from that but we don’t condone that in any fashion and if there’s consequences, he has to take that on the chin.”
Speaking about social media generally, Evatt added: “I can’t stand it. Mobile phones and social media, I think they’re weapons of mass destruction and I think that’s the way I see it and all it seems to be is a negative narrative all the time.
"It can be a toxic place and I think today has highlighted that.”
