IAN Evatt believes the transfer market will start to settle once his team returns to the training ground.

The Bolton head coach has confirmed his squad will be back at Lostock next week to begin preparations for the League Two season.

Clubs will vote on a start date for the 2020/21 campaign this week, and further information is expected on how fans could return to stadia and to what extent salary caps will affect recruitment.

Evatt has already secured one of his top targets, Eoin Doyle, and is expected to wrap up the signing of Antoni Sarcevic this week. Blackpool midfielder Jamie Devitt, pictured, also continues to be strongly linked with the Whites.

“The market is strange at the moment,” Evatt told The Bolton News. “There are a lot of players available, but nobody knows exactly when the season is starting, so there’s a bit of caution.

“Until there is a definitive answer given, we are all playing a little bit of a guessing game.

“I tend to find that when pre-season begins, players start to panic a little bit if they don’t have a contract sorted out and so things naturally start to move.

“We’re back on the training ground next Monday and we’re working towards the season starting on September 12. That’s all subject to being confirmed but we’re excited about getting started and working with the players.”

Evatt has been in position now for a fortnight and has worked in tandem with the head of football operations, Tobias Phoenix, to establish a set of targets based on data analysis of the available players and their relative positions.

But while Wanderers have raised eyebrows with their transfer business so far, Evatt has underlined that he will not be paying over the odds this summer for any player he brings to the club.

“We are working really hard and I’m really enjoying it,” he said. “There’s a lot to do but myself and Tobias Phoenix are putting long hours in at the moment to find the right players we need.

“There is a strategy to it, a lot of research and analysis not only on what a player does on the pitch but also his character; has he got the will to progress?

“We will not overspend. We have a pretty good idea of every individual player’s market value, and the contract we’re willing to offer to come and play for this football club.

“We won’t be held to ransom by anyone.”