IAN Evatt says vaccination status will “play a part” in Wanderers’ plans for the January transfer window.

Fourteen players and four members of staff, including Evatt, are currently isolating after testing positive for the virus.

The Bolton boss wants any new signings to make “an immediate impact” and fears Covid could continue to disrupt their season.

“I think it’s definitely got to play a part. One hundred per cent. I completely agreed with Jurgen (Klopp) when he was saying that," he said.

“When we are making signings in January, we’re making them to have a significant impact and an immediate impact.

“I think last January was a great example of that for us - the way we went into the window, we got people who we wanted and we had a significant improvement in the team from virtually day one and ended up being promoted.

“It’s no good to me if we’re hitting the ground running and we’ve committed money for a player, and then just as we’re hitting our stride he has to miss 10 days or two weeks with Covid, or in a more serious issue he becomes ill with Covid and has long Covid and the suffering off the back of that, and we don’t have him available for a significant period of time.

“It’s something that we definitely have to look at as a medical department – there’s no doubt about that.”

Evatt remains confident Wanderers can bolster their squad in the January window but admits recent postponements have impacted the club financially.

The Whites’ Boxing Day clash with Morecambe – typically one of the biggest home gates of the season - was postponed earlier this week due to the club’s Covid outbreak.

He added: “It’s certainly not helped on a financial front with the massive loss of revenue over December and Christmas time.

“That would have been huge for us. That’s where we can all really play a part – we are going to have those fixtures again.

“If we can make sure that we get a similar crowd to Boxing Day, and I don’t know how achievable that is.

“But that’s how our fans can support our club – by coming to watch, by getting tickets, by buying iFollow passes.

“It all makes a big difference. We’ve had a substantial loss of revenue over this period and it’s going to hurt, so the more we can all help and chip in the better really.”