IAN Evatt admits Wanderers are playing catch-up on recruitment.

The club announced yesterday that head of football operations, Tobias Phoenix, was leaving after 10 months in the job.

It is understood there are no plans to directly replace him, which leaves Evatt and his backroom staff playing a greater role in bring new signings to the University of Bolton Stadium.

Speaking on Thursday, the Bolton boss said he was confident his plans for January would not be affected.

“We are behind where we want to be, just because of the infrastructure,” he said. “It’s no fault of anyone’s, but we understand what we need now.

“Scouting is already going on. I have been forwarded players for January.

“But we need to make good decisions for this club, have an infrastructure we can rely on, and get the right characters in the building for the right price, as early as possible to give us the best chance of succeeding.”

Phoenix was installed in February with the club slipping out of League One under previous manager Keith Hill.

Talk at the time was of Wanderers adopting a data-driven ‘moneyball’ approach to recruitment but signings made over the summer have thus far enjoyed decidedly mixed fortunes.

The January window reopens in just under three weeks and Evatt has earmarked up to four new additions to his squad. Beyond that, however, the Bolton boss concedes the club has plenty of work on its hands.

“Moving forward, we have to get a better structure in recruitment,” he said.

“We need to make quicker, better, more-informed decisions than we have in recent years. And we need to get ahead of the game.

“By March, we’ll know what we want and need for the summer. And we will already have those lines of communication in progress to make sure we are ready to do business and we get the players into the building we need.

“We have to be that far ahead, especially with the salary cap. The last thing we need is going into some bidding war and losing out on players when if we’d have been more focused earlier on, we could have got them in.

“In terms of January there are three or four positions I want to improve. We’ll make sure we do it within the salary cap – and there’s still money there. We have been very good in managing our sustainability, so we’ll see what is available.

“But I do see January more as a short-term fix. It’s more about pushing us over the line, or getting us near that line, for the summer. But it’s the summer that is the key window where we have to make key decisions quickly and be ahead of everyone else.

“We want to improve in January but it’s beyond that where we want to make long-term decisions and get them right. “