Bolton Wanderers boost as boss talks ‘vast amounts of money’ ahead of Sheffield Wednesday trip

The former Chesterfield captain, whose side have started the season confidently and sit unbeaten in their four matches so far, is known as one of the more outspoken managers in the division.

Bolton welcome back striker Dion Charles to selection contention this weekend, with Evatt reporting he has a ‘full strength’ squad to choose from.

The Trotters are one of seven former Premier League sides in a heavyweight third tier.

With that sort of stature comes expectation, financial backing and quality – all seven of those clubs are in the top nine places in the league – a reality that has turned the make-up of the division on its head, Evatt believes.

“It is a tough, tough league,” he said. “You look at every fixture and you think, ‘that’s a tough one’. I was looking at the fixtures yesterday thinking August was tough and I just had a look at September and thought, ‘here we go again’. But that is the nature of football at the moment. Every division has got stronger and stronger.

“There are vast amounts of money being spent and a lot more quality than when I played in League One. We got promoted out of this league with Blackpool and the standard was nowhere near the same as what it is now. Nowhere near the same level of clubs or the same level of player.

“I think the game in general has just improved and continues to improve.

“The standard of coaching has improved, I’ll say that as well. Everyone is well coached now, everyone has a plan. Whatever that plan is, that is subjective and it is down to opinion and how the game should be played, but everyone has a plan and is coached really well.

“The detail is important and then it is all about the one per cents we were speaking about before; set-plays, fitness data, that kind of thing. Where you can have the biggest gains, those marginal ones are the most important.”