Wanderers have sifted through “hundreds” of potential signings to create a shortlist for January.

Ian Evatt has revealed that the Whites will be active in the transfer market next month, aiming to sign a handful of players that can immediately make an impact on the first team.

It is understood that a new striker is on the manager’s wish-list, which may come as a relief to fans who have become concerned with the lack of goals scored in the first half of this season.

Wanderers have scored 15 league goals from open play this season, ranking them 15th among their peers. And though the data suggests they are creating many more presentable opportunities than they are taking, Evatt appears ready to try and improve his options up front when he gets the chance.

The Bolton boss has been presented with a large number of options from his recruitment team, led by Chris Markham, but says the decisions he makes will not be exclusively led by the club’s form through December.

“I think what we have shown is we are quite strategic with our planning,” he told The Bolton News. “We have completed a lot of hard work on the January transfer window and that was taking place the minute the summer transfer window finished.

“It is just the way we do things here. Myself, Chris, the team of recruitment analysts behind Chris, have watched hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of games, done hundreds of reports on players and we have a rough idea of who is achievable, what we need and how that plays out, we’ll see.

“But we never go into January throwing blind darts at a dart board. We are always well prepared, strategic with our thinking, and we’ll see how that goes. But there are a lot of games and a lot of time before January, so we need to make sure we have a really good month.”

Evatt has already confirmed he will be looking to make high-end loan deals next month, along similar lines to the ones he has already struck with Liverpool for Conor Bradley and Owen Beck, and Manchester City for James Trafford.

And he has credited the role Wanderers’ fans have played in creating a challenging and supportive environment for the young loanees to come and earn their spurs at League One level.

“That just for me speaks volumes about the work that we are doing,” he said of the relationship with Liverpool and City. “We have gained their trust, gained their respect and in turn, they are giving us players like James and Conor and Owen, which is fantastic for us.

“We are benefitting from that, they are benefitting from that, so all these relationships, it is a two-way street. It’s not just them helping us out and giving us players.

“We are actually helping them as well by developing these guys, giving them a real taste of what it’s like to play at a big football club.

“The fans play a huge part in that, a huge fanbase which sells out away fixtures, huge crowds at home and if these lads want to have the careers that they are setting themselves up for, then they need to get used to playing that sort of environment.

“I think this club is a great platform to provide the experience for that moving forwards.”