IAN Evatt hopes Wanderers’ Covid pain can prove a blessing in disguise.

The club took a financial hit with the cancellation of successive home games over the festive period and were then forced to postpone a trip to Burton after another virus outbreak in the camp.

Wanderers went into the festive period on the back of defeats at Fleetwood and Accrington which stirred an element of frustration in the fanbase.

But Evatt is confident the mood will be improved when his side return to action, which is scheduled to happen on Saturday at Rotherham United.

Asked if the pause could be beneficial, he said: “I think so. I think we were all - probably the fans more than me because I kind of could understand where we were at and what was happening – but the fans were becoming increasingly frustrated with some of the results and performances.

“This gives us a chance to reload and reset – for everybody just to take a breath, calm down and get going again.

“Even though we’ve had serious injury issues and now we’ve had serious Covid issues, it also gives us an opportunity and we have to take that.

“I’ve said this to the players, we all might be feeling a bit sorry for ourselves but when we come out the other side, we have to be ready to fight, run and graft to try to get three points every Saturday.

“Once we do that and we gain momentum, you can see what happens. Last season, it happened and there’s no reason why we can’t do the same again this season."

Evatt had hoped to end December on a high as some of his injured players started to return to training – but the wave of Covid infections over the past few weeks has seen the club grind to a halt.

The Bolton boss took the job in lockdown and spent his first full season playing in stadia without supporters but is current enduring his toughest time of the pandemic.

“It just seems to get even more challenging,” he said. “Obviously, we had the injury front and then the cavalry was coming, things looked a lot more positive.

“Then, all of a sudden, we get hit with all this. But we can’t affect that - we can only control what we can control, and that’s ourselves.

“There is an opportunity that can come from this and that is that we regroup and get bodies back.

“Once we are all out the other side, we’ll pretty much all have immunity because all of us have it – there aren’t many left without it.

“We have to then focus on making up ground on this division really fast and making sure we get results.

“Obviously, that coincides with the January transfer window, which is very good. And bodies coming back – Gethin (Jones) is almost back, Baka (Amadou Bakayoko) is back.

“There aren’t many lads now - other than Josh Sheehan and Lloyd Isgrove that are long-term – who aren’t back available for selection, which is really good for us.”