Bolton Wanderers are in FA Cup first round action this weekend when they host National League side Stockport County.
The Hatters travel to the University of Bolton Stadium this Sunday under new boss Dave Challinor to take on Wanderers.
Some 5,000 Stockport fans are posied to make the short journey to the UniBol to take on the Whites, and Bolton will be hoping to book their place in the second round of the competition.
READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers announce big boost with four players signing new deals
Wanderers have been boosted going into the encounter with news that Gethin Jones, MJ Williams, Kieran Lee and George Thomason have all signed fresh deals at the club.
Ahead of the game, Wanderers boss Ian Evatt spoke to the press and here's a full transcript of what he had to tell broadcasters ahead of the encounter.
Injury update?
“It’s good news really. There’s not a great deal going on on that front. Bakayoko joined in today and he’s okay. Amaechi joined in fully for the first time today and he’s okay.
“Harry’s got a bit of a tight calf but it’s nothing major there, and Josh Sheehan has a bit of a sore back after Tuesday, but again there’s nothing major there, just precaution more than anything else.
“We’re getting there."
It’s a local derby and FA Cup first round - what’s the approach apart from wanting to win?
“Full tilt, really. No other approach. Build on what was good on Tuesday night and try and win another game.
“Cup matches are important to us financially, obviously to build momentum. We’ve got quite a few home games coming up and what looks like winnable fixtures and we want to make hay really. We’ve struggled in October and we’re off the back of that now and we’ve put that to bed on Tuesday night and now we have to focus on a good November.”
The fact that your former captain is now at Stockport, does that add a bit of extra spice to this?
“As I said before, Antoni was a very good player for this football club. Obviously he had a big part to play in our promotion and our solid start to our League One campaign, but people move clubs all the time. We wish him well. It’s just the way football is that you end up playing them so soon after.
“It’s a big game, there’s no doubt about it. They’re a big football club, obviously spending a lot of money in the level they’re at and have some very good players so we know that we need to be at the top of our game to get the right result.”
They’ve got a new manager - do you see similarities between yourself and Dave Challinor?
“He’s obviously slightly more experienced than me. I think he’s been doing it longer, but he’s had success. Obviously he did a good job at Fylde and then Fylde were wrong in getting rid of him.
"He went to Hartlepool and did a fantastic job, got them up, and now has been given a great opportunity at Stockport with all their firepower in the National League, but we know that’s a really challenging league and a tough one, but he’s done very well for someone that’s relatively inexperienced.”
Is there a banana skin feel about it from a Bolton perspective?
“Every cup game is a banana skin. I think they’re bringing 5,000 fans so the atmosphere is certainly going to be good and I’m looking forward to that because, if anything, that will switch our players on.
"We know we’ve got to build on what was good on Tuesday. I thought we saw lots of positive signs, lots of signs the players were starting to come back into form. They were listening to the messaging we’ve been giving to them and they need to take that on board for Sunday and make sure we play to the best of our abilities, and if we do, that should be enough to get us through.”
New deals have been done for several players - that must be pretty pleasing?
“Yeah. The most important thing that I want us to become at this football club is a club that rewards success and rewards people for doing their jobs properly and if I feel their performances are outweighing what they’re getting paid, then they deserve to be offered a new contract and Sharon and the rest of the board are fully on board with that.
“We want to be a club that rewards people and not just when they sign a contract, they sit on that contract and we take advantage of that situation. We feel like those four players were undervalued for what they were giving the squad and we’ve done the right thing by them and that’s what we want to be at this football club.”
It’s nice to have that winning feeling back?
“Absolutely. I think we all needed it. It was the manner of it more than anything else. Just the way we played, our intensity, the way our application and attitude was correct on the night and Rochdale are a good team that are having success against some decent teams in League Two this season.
"We had to make sure we performed well but I saw some really good signs, but we’ve got to build on that now into Sunday.”
How big does a little thing like a clean sheet feel?
“It has been a while. It makes our life easier if we keep clean sheets, of course, because it means we don’t have to score more than one to win a game. We haven’t defensively been good enough and that isn’t just the back lads and the goalkeeper, that is the whole team, we have to defend as a team, and for me the main instigators of all of that are the front three.
"The way they press the ball, the intensity they press the ball with, and our reactions in losing possession at times haven’t been great this season, but Tuesday I thought they were spot on and I thought we did really well on that front and we got a clean sheet off the back of that.”
Liam Edwards came on for just a few seconds but it must have felt like a massive deal for him?
“He’s really had it tough. There’s a lot of people that questioned whether he’d ever get back playing again, but what he has done is focussed his mind in a very challenging situation and kept his self belief, kept his work ethic.
"He’s also applied himself out of football and gaining himself a degree because he wants to have a secondary occupation, which is credit to him and speaks volumes for his character.
“No matter how sorry for ourselves we’re feeling after what was a poor October, this lad has had a poor 23 months and sometimes you need some perspective as to what’s really going on and the most important thing and the best thing to happen on Tuesday night, regardless of the performance and the win, was Liam Edwards pulling on a football shirt again and playing football.”
You’ve got two cup competitions to think about on top of the league, how much pressure does that add to the regular first team starters now that there are going to be players on the fringes thinking if they do well in the cups, it might give them a chance in the league?
“The last month with the injuries we’ve had, we haven’t really had the opportunity and competition to change things around too much, but now the lads are returning and they getting fitter and stronger all of the time, then it should provide healthy competition and you need that. You need to fear for your place in the team.
“If you don’t you become complacent and you’re not quite at 100% mentally and physically, but now people are returning all of the time, they’re getting fitter, they’re getting stronger, they’re getting sharper, they’re getting more match ready and that will only help us moving forwards.”
Adam Senior has had his Ashton United loan spell extended by another month. What was the thinking behind sending him there?
“Just more games, a greater chance of playing regular football in a competitive division against strong experienced men. He’s done great and he’s done exactly what I thought he would do.
"He’s a fantastic lad, a great character, and an improving football player. He’s come on leaps and bounds since I’ve been at the club and long may that continue. His attitude and application is first class and Ashton love him and rightly so because he’s a very good young footballer, but for now it’s about him gaining more experience and then we’ll look at the January window as to whether he comes back with us or we place him somewhere higher and test him in a better division.”
What did you think of Dave Challinor in the 18/19 campaign where Fylde were so close to getting promoted to the Football League and the two matches when you faced off?
“I think we drew both games. I think it was a difficult game. I think in terms of locality and location, it was quite a local derby and there was quite a bit of needle in the game for whatever reason.
"But they were tight games. Dave has done very well in every managerial job he’s had and this will be a big challenging one but I have no doubts that he’ll go there and be a success.
“I wish him all the best. I think he’s a good fella, but for us it’s about focusing on what we do and then on Sunday making sure we apply ourselves correctly, build on our good performance on Tuesday and get ourselves in the next round.”
