IAN Evatt doesn’t need a scouting report to know who Cambridge United’s danger man will be on Saturday.

At the age of 39, Wes Hoolahan is still pulling the strings at the Abbey Stadium, but 14 years ago he was pulling his boots on at Blackpool in the same team as the Bolton boss.

Cambridge may have lost talisman Paul Mullin, who scored 34 goals to help the club finish one place above Wanderers last season in League Two. But their bright start to the current campaign is due in no small measure to a man Evatt knows well.

“Wes has always been a very talented player,” he told The Bolton News.

“We signed for Blackpool at the same time. He came down, a young Irish lad and relatively unknown from Livingston in Scotland. I’d signed from QPR.

“Immediately we saw how talented he was, and it was about refining that talent.

“He is very intelligent, understands the game, sees pictures that some players don’t see. And we know he is a huge part of Cambridge’s attacking prowess. He is still a very good player.”

Hoolahan sat out Cambridge’s midweek defeat against Millwall in the League Cup and also missed both games against Bolton last season.

With more than 500 career appearances under his belt, the playmaker has been given licence by his manager Mark Bonner and Evatt’s former QPR boss Gary Waddock to pick and choose the games in which he makes himself available.

“It is tough, especially as last year and the start of this season, playing Saturday-Tuesday is a big, big ask for someone at 39 years of age,” Evatt said.

“Wes needs to manage his own body and they seem to target the Saturday games for him.

“Last season he had a slight injury for the first game and then couldn’t play midweek, but he is still doing a fantastic job and it is great to see him playing so well.”

Evatt expects movement in both directions before the transfer deadline on Tuesday night.

"Things are progressing all the time and things are developing all the time," he said of potential deals. "Obviously we’ve highlighted one or two that we think can improve us and one or two might leave.

"Nothing is concrete yet but things are developing all the time.

"Incoming I would think one or two. Outgoing, probably the same, one or two. Things are developing all the time so we’re just playing it by ear really.”