Bolton boss Ian Evatt wins League Two prize ahead of Port Vale return

“I’ve got a group of staff with me that all work extremely hard and we’ve all suffered this season, so it’s really for them.

“I’m just the lead singer.”

For the record, he would be the Tony Hadley to Spandau Ballet if he had to choose a cover band.

And he is hoping his Bolton Wanderers can go Through The Barricades again to extend the run that led to him taking Gold spot in the monthly prize.

If Evatt is one for believing in curses then he has already overcome it this time, having picked up four points from games at Bradford and at home to second-placed Cambridge United, where they celebrated a 2-1 win.

But the Bolton boss will be mindful that on the last occasion he earned monthly managerial recognition for a notable November, their next opponents – Port Vale – brought him crashing back down to earth with a 6-3 defeat that rocked the University of Bolton Stadium to its core.

He does not want a repeat in the reverse fixture tomorrow. “Obviously it’s left a completely bitter taste in our mouths because at that time we were in great form and we got hit with a massive sucker punch that knocked all the wind out of our sails,” said Evatt.

“In all my years of football, that was the most crazy game I’ve ever been involved in.

Port Vale's Nathan Smith scores his side's sixth goal at the UniBol in December

“I think it could have been 12-12, it was a really strange afternoon.

“We’re hoping it’s not going to be anything like that again and if it is, hopefully in our favour.”

If his players do think back to the last meeting, Evatt believes it should be used as a warning.

“We’ve learnt, and that comes down to the dark times we’ve had this season that have a relevance in the journey and where we’re at right now and we have to remember that and respect that and also use it to motivate us and inspire us that we don’t want to go back there again,” he said.

“That’s where we’re at as a group at the moment. They’re enjoying their football and they’re determined to keep this run going.”

Evatt also knows that should Wanderers continue their march up League Two, the UniBol shocker will become a distant memory.

“We just want to win the game, it’s a simple as that. Yes we do remember what happened in December, but that isn’t going to define our season,” he continued.

“What will define our season is how we finish these next 12 games because we’ve given ourselves an opportunity. We didn’t have that opportunity then.

“In terms of how a season plays out I’d much rather be in the form we’ve got now with the squad I’ve got available now than going the first couple of months unbeaten.

“It means more. It’s more important, there’s more on it. Trophies are given out in May and not September, October, November. We just have to maintain our focus, keep our hard work, keep being humble, respect everybody and Port Vale will be a challenging and difficult game, no doubt. But we have to make sure we keep hitting those standards that we’re starting to set for ourselves.”

He added: “We do respect everybody, of course we do, because this league has come back and bit us on the backside at times this season, and if you look at the results matchday upon matchday there’s always strange ones – everyone beats everyone. And so we do respect everybody. But we also have a firm belief in ourselves that if we perform to the levels that I believe we can get to then we will be more than a match for every team.

“I always listen and understand and respect managers’ pre and post-match comments and I must say (Cambridge manager) Mark Bonner showed a lot of class in what he said about our football club after the game on Tuesday.

“It’s refreshing to hear a manager be so honest and also great for us that people are now starting to speak about us in that way.

“But we’re not getting carried away. We know what we have to do, we know what we want to achieve, and we just need to win the next game.”