THE crossbar at Stadium:MK had barely stopped shaking from the impact of Gethin Jones’s thunderous second-half header but Ian Evatt was already thinking about Saturday and the prospect of toppling another of League One’s fancied sides.

Peterborough United come to the University of Bolton Stadium this weekend having been humbled at home by Fleetwood – whose scorer on Tuesday night, Josh Vela, is still well remembered in these parts.

Bolton had coasted to three points, perhaps unexpectedly so, but Evatt was keen to ensure his players lost no focus on the journey north.

“We will not get carried away,” he maintained. “Tonight is three points and a good performance. But the games come thick and fast and we now have to regroup, re-focus, re-energise for Saturday.

“We are looking forward to that game in front of our home crowd, but now we will enjoy tonight, a long trip home, and it is great to get three points but we have to refocus and make sure we are ready for Peterborough now.”

Evatt recognises his own challenge in distributing enough game time around his squad to keep all of his players happy. Hinting at changes for Posh’s visit, the return of key players from injury is making the task of picking a matchday squad all the more difficult.

“It is getting harder and harder,” he said. “Jon (Dadi Bodvarsson) is back Saturday, Josh Sheehan is almost back, so it’s getting more challenging.

“Eoin Toal is almost back, Owen Beck is getting fitter with every day that passes by so we have a really good squad and I am not going to be able to keep them all happy.

“I get and understand that, but I do expect a level of professionalism and it’s down to me now to pick the right team for the right occasion and that is a different occasion on Saturday and a different challenge.”

Wanderers had never previously won at Stadium:MK and were only a few months removed from a 2-0 defeat against Liam Manning’s side at the end of last season.

Progress has not surprised Evatt, who believes his team are offering as much value for money as any in League One.

“I think there’s lots of hard work that has gone into building this squad,” he said. “Hours and hours, not just myself but from Chris Markham and the recruitment team behind him.

“We have tried to leave no stone unturned. I think we’ve got good value in the squad for what we pay and that’s what we want. That’s smart, it is strategic, we are trying to be sustainable, and we’ve got some really good options but it’s not by chance, there’s lots of hard work that’s gone into making and building this squad.”

Victory at MK was Bolton’s first away from the UniBol this season and, says Evatt, emphasised the improvements made out of possession over the summer.

“I think any win away from home and getting that monkey off our back is pleasing,” he said. “This is a tough place to come and I think we haven’t won here so that says a lot. I thought we grasped control of the game pretty early.

“I thought we pressed really well, our intensity out of possession was excellent, and the worry for me was whether we’d have one of those lapses in concentration defensively or we just wouldn’t take our chances and as much as we probably should have scored more, I was really pleased with the clean sheet.”