WANDERERS have called upon their ball boys and girls to help pick up the pace at the Toughsheet Stadium.
Ian Evatt is keen to keep delays kept to a minimum when Bolton are in possession and has relayed that message to the young supporters who work around the pitch perimeter.
The Whites reaped the reward on Saturday when the ball was given quickly to Randell Williams for a long throw which led to Aaron Collins’ opening goal, and Evatt was only happy to highlight an assist which might not get a mention in the record books.
He said: “We have spoken about this, kindly asking the ball boys and girls to get the ball back to us as quickly as they can because all it can do is negate the ‘dark arts’ and tactics of some of the opposition who try to slow things down.
“When it is in our control then the faster we can get the ball back in play the better for us.
“It is something we have worked on and talked about, and we play a game in training, a Marcelo Bielsa game called Murderball, and it’s basically what we want to try and recreate on the pitch, where the ball is constantly in play and we’re testing and challenging the opposition and don’t give them any rest.
“Randell applied it perfectly and we know he can throw the ball a long way and Aaron was sharp enough in his mind to take advantage of that.”
Evatt did not do the post-match press conference on Saturday, leaving the task to assistant Stephen Crainey. He watched the game from the TV gantry perched high above the West Stand and felt, given the injury list his side faced, the result was of primary importance going into the game at Birmingham.
“It provided us with three points and that is the best preparation you can possibly ask for,” he said.
“Burton have completely changed the way they play. This is more from a coaching standpoint than from a wider viewer but they have under-valued and under-scored their points tally from their performances. They should have more on the board.
“They have out-scored the opposition eight or nine times on xG this season so far.
“It is our way to make things as difficult as possible by conceding the goal at an awful time we controlled it, and I thought we were comfortable. Was it our best performance? No. But it was good enough to win the game and that is the most important thing.”
