Ian Evatt is pleased to see Wanderers receiving positive attention following their Carabao Cup clash with Aston Villa – and hopes to make it happen regularly.

The Whites gave the Premier League side a run for their money in the opening 60 minutes before Villa’s quality shone through in a 4-1 victory at the UniBol.

Evatt was delighted with the way his side approached the game on the front foot and took pride from the positive response they received from fans and pundits alike.

“I think for 60 minutes we were very much in the game, and very rarely would you see a League One team play against a Premier League team and have, I think it was dead-on equal possession in the first half,” said the Bolton chief.

“I can’t remember seeing a team do that, so that is a great achievement for us. We conceded a set-piece in the first half, but that first-half performance is pretty good. And obviously, the way we play and how hard they make you work – we were always going to fatigue at some stage.

“But it probably gives the players a little insight into what is required to play this way against some of the world’s best players – obviously [Philippe] Coutinho has been one of the world’s best players at some stage.

“It really gives them a bit of a kick up the backside to say, ‘Do you know what? If we want to get to that level and complete at that level, we need to do this repetitively for 90 minutes’.

“For us to be able to do that, it means we have to be even fitter and even stronger – mentally and physically. A great learning curve for us all and great pride in the whole night really.

“Just having Bolton back on the tele for the right reasons and having people speak positively about our football club is great, and we want more of that.”

The Bolton squad is in a healthy place heading into the final days of the transfer window with the likes of Ricardo Santos, Aaron Morley and Dion Charles all tied down to long-term deals.

However, several Wanderers players are in the final year of their contracts, including Josh Sheehan, MJ Williams, Kieran Lee, Amadou Bakayoko and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson among others.

Evatt is keen to assess his squad after the deadline before making any decisions over new deals, but says they will be handled on a “case-by-case” basis.

He added: “Ideally, we want to get the transfer window out of the way and there are still lots of ifs, buts and maybes.

“I don’t necessarily think it is a bad position for us to be in, but we will monitor it as the year goes on.

“Not every case is the same, some are different. We will play it by ear and monitor it case-by-case.”