Ahead of this afternoon’s League One clash with Ipswich Town, here are the best bits from Ian Evatt’s press conference.

Wanderers enter the game on the back of a 3-2 win against League Two Port Vale in the Papa John’s Trophy.

The Whites’ last win against Ipswich came in an FA Cup tie in 2005 when Henrik Pedersen bagged a brace and Stelios was also on target.

What do you make of Ipswich’s spending over the summer?

Recruitment is a key part of football because you are only as good as your players. What he has been able to do is recruit well at all the teams he has been at.

And that is a skill in itself - it is credit to him. He gets teams and makes them gel quickly. I think he is a very good manager and I wish him all the best, with the exception of when he plays us, really.

I’d have liked to have signed his 19 last summer! It does take time, people need that to implement brands and identities as we saw last season.

Hopefully he will be given time and I am sure he will, and he’ll get them going. But for us it is about going down to Ipswich and coming back with three points.

How frustrating has it been for Kieran Lee to miss some of pre-season and lose his place to Josh Sheehan?

I wouldn’t say Josh has taken his place. Kieran has had an interrupted pre-season with injuries, knocks and niggles.

We hadn’t managed to get him 100 per cent fit but he is there now and as you saw on Monday night, when he plays he is a top player at this level. 

We think a lot of him and he is going to be a big player for us come the end of the season. We are only six games in, it is only September, so 40 more to go.

Are you concerned by Dennis Politic’s lack of game time at Port Vale?

We can’t demand that he plays because I certainly wouldn’t accept that from another manager. That would mean I was picking their team, whether the player has been good or not, and that can’t happen. 

You have to go and fight, earn the right to be in their team. Now from our perspective, and my opinion, their team is not as good as ours so he has got a better chance of playing in their team than ours at the moment. 

But he still has to earn it, he still has to train well and make sure when he gets that opportunity he plays well because I can’t demand that he plays. I can’t pick Port Vale’s team as well as my own, that can’t happen. 

Football isn’t like that, you have to go and earn it. And at the moment their manager obviously feels that he hasn’t, so again roll your sleeves up, get your head down, work hard and make sure you get in their team.

Where does the club stand on players getting the Covid vaccine?

We can give them all the data and information but at the end of the day it is a personal decision. I will never be a manager who says: ‘You have to do this, you have to do that’. 

It is always a choice. We live in a free world. So, the players have been given a choice and if they took it, they took it, if they haven’t, they haven’t – we adapt and overcome either way. But they will have my support regardless. 

People with double vaccinations in the summer still got it and were still ill, so it doesn’t necessarily mean if you are double vaccinated that you are not going to get it or be poorly – but it might save your life. That’s the difference, and it comes down again to personal choice.

Will Josh Sheehan come straight back into the team after returning from international duty with Wales?

Josh has got to back himself to get into that (Wales) team. We certainly back him.

I spoke to Josh today and he was frustrated because he saw how good we were while he was sat having his tea with the Wales squad, and they were complementing us about the way we play and the way we do things – and that’s great.

Having him back is great and you certainly shouldn’t punish a player for being an international player, so he will come back into the reckoning for Saturday.