WANDERERS are enjoying the winning habit, but Ian Evatt knows they will have to keep working hard for it to continue.

Southend, Bolton’s next opponents, are propping up the Football League – sitting bottom of League Two with just five points from their 13 games.

But it wasn’t so long ago that Bolton were languishing near the relegation places, so Evatt knows how quickly things can turn. And he has seen enough in the Shrimpers to suggest their luck will change – just not yet if he has anything to do with it.

“I’ve watched two or three of the games and I think they’ve been very unlucky in the games I’ve watched. I think they’re a much better team than people are giving them credit for,” said the Bolton boss.

“They’re a young team, they’ve got energy, they press from the front and it’s going to be a tough, difficult game.

“All this that Southend are bottom of the league and they’ve only got five points and it’s going to be a walk in the park for Bolton...we need to get that out of our heads straight away. We need to give them the respect that they deserve and make sure we treat this opposition like we do anyone else and I know they’ve got ability in the team so we have to be at it.

“We’re not just going to be able to turn up and win. We have to play to our strengths and make sure we nullify them, same as any game, so we’re treating this like we would any other game.

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“Where they are right now does not mean to say they’ll finish there. I think they’ve done a lot better than the results have suggested in previous weeks.”

A few weeks ago the same was being said of his own side.

Sticking to their footballing beliefs and methods and not being tempted to waver, Evatt says, has helped them to turn a corner.

“Obviously repetition and the way we work in training will in turn help improve players and get used to the system and what we want out of the system and the players individually,” he said. “It was always going to take time.

“We’re not hiding behind the fact that we didn’t start well. We haven’t got the results we wanted earlier in the season but the good thing for us is that was very early on and we’ve got still 32 games to go. It’s a long, long time in football – 90-odd points. I’ve always thought that we’d turn the corner and obviously it’s helped when we’ve got bodies back on the pitch but I also see what we do, day in and day out in training and I must say (yesterday) in training, we rested the ones that started the game on Tuesday, but the rest of the team and squad trained and the tempo and intensity and the desire to want to train properly and well was incredible.

“The standard was brilliant and that’s what we need from everybody in the squad.”

That collective effort is one key factor in helping Wanderers switch from a side that won just once in their opening 11 games in all competitions to be among the division’s form teams now thanks to four consecutive wins.

But for Evatt it is a constant work in progress.

“I’m never satisfied. We strive for perfection but I don’t think perfection is something that can ever be achieved. I think you’ve got to work towards it but always strive to improve and get better,” he said.

“I think we can improve in every area. There’s no doubt we haven’t cracked it, we’ve got loads to improve on.”

“There’s lots to play for and we’re not too far away from where we want to be right now and we’re nowhere near where we want to be, I get that, but the league is quite condensed because everybody beats anybody. It seems that way, so we have to just focus on ourselves, focus on the next game, we’re not looking too far ahead.

“Yes, we have an end goal and an end ambition but that can only be achieved by winning the next opportunity and the next game put in front of us – that is Southend and we are fully focused on them on Saturday.”