Ian Evatt reckons Wanderers are in “a really good place” heading into a busy month but insists they need to be consistent.

The Whites have eight matches pencilled in for October, starting with Saturday’s clash with Lincoln City at the UniBol.

Evatt’s men currently sit in the play-off places despite having a game in hand on some of the sides around them.

And the Bolton boss hopes they can keep building momentum heading into what proved to be a difficult stage of the season last year.

“It is a big month,” he said. “This is the beginning of the nitty-gritty part of the season, the winter months when the weather comes in really quickly and it is cold and miserable.

“You have to find a way to win and do so consistently. I think this is the start of this run now and the players are in a really good place.

“It is going to be tough, but I have got an excellent group of players who I believe in. I believe in them all and I think when we rotate and change things, we can see the team is still functioning the same way.

“Obviously, slightly disappointed with the Tranmere game just before the break because I think the first half, not so much technically but we just let ourselves down with our application and intensity.

“But it was a great lesson for our players to learn that if you do dip below our standard and level, it can cause you problems. They dug themselves out of that hole on the night. I know we lost the game on penalties but we got back in it.

“Since then and since the return to training, their attitude, application, intensity and quality levels have been first class, and that is all I can ask.”

Evatt is prepared to continue his rotation policy to deal with the fixture congestion in the coming weeks but is confident changes in personnel won’t affect the flow of the team.

“We can’t keep going to the well with the same 11 players all of the time because the way we play and how intensely we play, we are at our best when we play with that zest,” he added. “To maintain and keep that, you have to rotate because there are that many games.

“The players all understand what is required. I am seeing really good things from them at the moment, really encouraging signs.

“But there is a long, long way to go. With the way we finished September, we have had a good start to the season, but it is only a start.”