Ian Evatt insists that Wanderers must be “brave” on the ball to beat Derby’s press this afternoon.

The Bolton boss expects Paul Warne’s side to “come after us”, spurred on by a bumper crowd at Pride Park.

“He is a very experienced manager and one who knows how to get out of this division, we are very respectful of that,” said Evatt. “He is a great guy, Warney.

“We know what we are going to face, a bit like he does with us. He knows how we play, we won’t change for anybody and that we have a huge belief in ourselves.

“They do too - they will press aggressively, the crowd will get behind them and it will be an incredible atmosphere. They will come after us and try to make it difficult.

“We have to be brave enough to play through that press and show everyone what we can do on the ball. Hopefully, that will be the case on Saturday.”

The Whites received plenty of praise following their emphatic display against Oxford in front of the Sky Sports cameras in midweek.

“It is great for us to show on national TV what this team is capable of doing and we had been disappointed with how it turned out at Portsmouth earlier in the season,” Evatt explained.

“We felt, even though we had the biggest chance of the game, we didn’t do ourselves justice and it was great that we managed to do so on Tuesday.

“I have had lots of messages from managers in the Premier League, the Championship, complementing us on the style of play and how dominant we were on the evening.

“But it only counted for three points, and we now have to focus only on Saturday and try to remain in that space where we are consistent and successful.”

He added: “I know these players like the back of my hand now. I know when they are coming into form, what type of mood they are in before a game, after a game. It is easy for me to read.

“I know they are in a pretty good place now and it is our job to stay there for the remaining eight games.”