IAN Evatt revealed how he felt a different view of the pitch would help him plot a path to victory against Walsall.

With Wanderers toiling in the first half, Evatt stepped out of the dugout to take up a position at the top of the lower tier for the final five minutes before the break.

In doing so, he spotted some of the problems his players had encountered against their hard-working opponents and was able to tailor his team talk as a result.

Speaking after the game, he told The Bolton News. “It’s something I did at Barrow a couple of times and I think it helps when the opposition are throwing a different look at you.

“You get a clearer view from up there and can see things easier, so it definitely helped.”

Wanderers had done their homework on Walsall’s previous games but struggled early on to adapt to their 3-4-3 shape.

“in our analysis work we predict where we think the space will be and if the opposition change what they usually do, then we have to find solutions,” he said. “That is my job and Pete (Atherton)’s job. It is also the players’ job too. Together we ended up solving the puzzle and getting the right result.

“Sometimes it’s hard for the players to see or figure it out. That is why I went and stood upstairs in the stands for five minutes just so I could get a picture of where the space on the pitch was.

“Sometimes at pitch level, you don’t really see it clearly and then once I went up there, myself and Peter discussed it, we knew where the space would be second half from the way we switched it out and Kieran (Lee) just pulled away.

“Referees are key and they normally take up great positions and if you can just play off the back of the referee as that number 10 or third midfield player there’s always good space there and we found that solution second half which was great.”

Wanderers fans will recall that previous Bolton managers have taken up different vantage points in the past to try and get an advantage.

Sam Allardyce would regularly sit high in the stands and communicate with his dugout via a radio mic, while Phil Parkinson would use his first team coach Julian Darby – positioned on the TV gantry – in a similar fashion.