Ian Evatt expects Bolton Wanderers to encounter a 'difficult' playing surface at the One Call Stadium when facing Mansfield Town but admits that it will be a common theme towards the business end of the League Two season.
The Trotters travel to Nottinghamshire today to take on the Stags on their own patch.
It is the third attempt at getting the fixture played, with the previous two being postponed in light of a frozen or waterlogged pitch at the One Call Stadium.
During winter and with games being played in quick succession, pitches further down the divisions can show more signs of wear and teat, despite the best efforts of groundsmen across the country.
Evatt believes this aspect has been exacerbated this season by the way the previous campaign was curtailed and with clubs putting their groundsmen on furlough.
But he wants his side to adapt and overcome to the situation they will encounter this evening as they aim to go four games unbeaten in a row.
He said: “It is going to be a difficult surface but then again our surface on Saturday was tough and we started first half playing some superb football.
“There will be challenges with pitches in the back end of the season.
"Groundsmen put hard work in, I have no doubts, but the issue this season is that with the way last season was curtailed and the fact groundsmen were being furloughed in the summer, the pitches were not prepared properly.
"They ended up racing to get things ready and we’re now seeing the wear and tear because of that.
“We have to adapt and overcome, go to Mansfield and do things our way, and hopefully that is enough to get a result."
The match had been originally due to take place yesterday, but was changed to today after Mansfield opted to do so following their match against Colchester United last weekend having to be pushed back 24 hours.
Wanderers wanted the third attempt of the game to take place yesterday as originally planned, but were overruled by the EFL.
Evatt himself has not spoken to Stags boss Nigel Clough and believes the only contact between the two teams of late has been through Trotters secretary Simon Marland when Wanderers rejected the suggestion of playing on Wednesday.
He said: “I haven’t spoken to Nigel or anyone from Mansfield. I think Simon (Marland) did briefly when we rejected the opportunity to play the game on the Wednesday but then were told we had to.
“Other than that we’ve had no contact other than the snippets I read in the press, which were obviously aimed at Bolton and me. But we won’t take much notice of it, we’ll go there with the right attitude and try to get a result.
“It’s us against the world and we’ll take everybody on.
“I have a massive amount of respect for our fans and what they do for this football club, for the board, for the staff and for the players and we’re in this together.
“If we feel we are being hard done by – which I think is the case at the moment – then bring it on. We’ll come out fighting and give everything we can. "
