'Challenges start' - Bolton Wanderers squad sent message ahead of Stockport County friendly

Ian Evatt believes Bolton Wanderers' pre-season challenges will start to increase now and has called for his players to react after admitting their standards slipped in the second half of the win over Chorley.

Wanderers were in action this afternoon against the National League North side for their second pre-season friendly. They travelled to Victory Park on the back of a 9-0 win over Longridge Town on Tuesday evening.

They went in 2-0 up at the break thanks to goals from Dion Charles and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson. Elias Kachunga added a third after the break and Connor Hall grabbed one back for the Magpies before full-time in a 3-1 victory.

READ MORE: 'Frustrated' - Ian Evatt's frank verdict on Bolton Wanderers win over Chorley & 'Amazonian' pitch

Evatt was pleased with what he saw from his side on a difficult playing surface in the first half at Victory Park. But he felt his side started to show some sloppiness in their standards after the break due to a variety of causes, which includes fatigue after an intense schedule so far.

Wanderers are next in pre-season action on Tuesday against Stockport County, a side newly promoted into League Two, while clashes against the likes of Watford, Carlisle United and Huddersfield Town are also in the schedule in the weeks to come. He has called for the hard work, from which they are seeing the benefits, continues as the pre-season fixtures start to increase in difficulty in the coming weeks.

He said: “I thought first half the way we played was absolutely outstanding on this surface. I thought there was loads of positives and second half, it becomes more challenging when they’re sat there and they’ve worked so hard yesterday and it’s tired, it’s hot, the game’s already over and then