Ian Evatt makes claim ahead of Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic clash

Bolton and Wigan look set to face off in a League One derby match next weekend and ahead of the fixture, Ian Evatt has told the Manchester Evening News that he wants his team to perform ‘to their best levels’ in order to come away with a victory.

Both sides have had excellent seasons so far, with Wanderers climbing into the top half of the table having only just been promoted from League Two and the Latics still in with a shout of winning the third tier title.

The two clubs then will both be desperate for the three points and bragging rights at the weekend and Ian Evatt has already spoken out about how much he would like to get one over on their local rivals.

He’s done a superb job since taking over at Bolton and has led them further and further up the division, with the side now currently sat in 11th. They’re eleven points off the play-off spots with seven games left and whilst it is possible to potentially sneak into those spots, it might be just out of reach for them now.

Even if a promotion dream is no more, they’ll still want to get one over on their rivals – and they could certainly do that, as they’ve pulled off some big results this campaign, such as a thrashing of Sunderland that resulted in Lee Johnson losing his job.

Evatt is hoping so, as he told the Manchester Evening News: “Obviously everybody wants to beat their rivals and we want to do it more than anyone.

“But for us and it’s about us and making sure we perform to our best levels. It’ll be a completely different game to what Crewe has been and we’ve got seven games that we need to try and win to give ourselves a chance and that’s the first of the seven so we’ll go there and give it our best shot.”

Evatt then seems to be up for the challenge – and a win