New additions like Paris Maghoma will help to redress an imbalance at Wanderers which has existed since the departure of Dapo Afolayan in January.

That’s the verdict of manager Ian Evatt as he looked ahead to Saturday’s League One opener against Lincoln City and an opportunity to showcase some of the tactical changes he has made on the training ground this summer.

The sale of Afolayan – who had for 18 months stood as one of the division’s top ball carriers – remains a thorny subject with sections of the Bolton support.

In January Wanderers accepted a reported offer of £450,000 plus add-ons from German side St Pauli for the former West Ham winger, who despite his decent numbers on the ball had still struggled to hold down a regular position after Evatt moved to a 3-5-2 formation at the start of last season.

Wanderers brought in Randell Williams and Dan Nlundulu in the same transfer window and have now added Carlos Mendes Gomes from Luton and Brentford midfielder Maghoma, who both led the ball-carrying stats at their respective loan clubs, Fleetwood and MK Dons, last season.

It is hoped the result will give Wanderers more attacking punch, with players that Evatt feels can be more readily accepted into the team’s shape.

“People will obviously look back at when we allowed Dapo to leave and say we lacked dribblers in the team, and I concur with that opinion. We have worked hard to change that,” he told The Bolton News.

“Dan Nlundulu, Randell Williams, Carlos Mendes Gomes, Paris – we have added ball carriers and dribblers to the ranks now and I think that can make a significant difference when we are speaking about creativity and scoring goals.”

Maghoma played in both holding and attacking midfield roles for the Dons last season and Evatt is confident the 22-year-old can play an important part for Wanderers in the coming months.

“Paris is an exciting player and I am really pleased I’ve got the opportunity to work with him,” he said.

“He offers us a lot – he can play as a number six, an eight or a 10, he has the ability to receive the ball under direct pressure and then manipulate it away from that pressure, he has an unbelievable engine and can drive through the middle of the pitch from deeper areas with an explosive change of pace and then he has the technical quality to make a final pass or shot. He offers a lot.

“There are parts of his game that he can improve on – and out of possession he will be the first to own up that he wants to get better at that.

“You don’t get many players at his stage of his career that are the complete package. Brentford have entrusted us to help him along and improve him but from what I have seen so far he is a very talented player.”

One of Wanderers’ weaknesses last season was breaking down teams who sat deep, looking to defend their penalty box and hit on the break.

The ‘low block’ became a regular sight, particularly from teams visiting the Toughsheet Community Stadium, and left Evatt and his coaching staff looking for new solutions over the summer months.

“We have tried to give ourselves different options and ways of breaking down that low block,” he said.

“From what I have seen in pre-season that work has been successful, but we can only really judge it when the season starts and see how we are getting on results-wise, how creative we are and how many of those chances we are taking.”

Bolton’s first opposition is Lincoln, a side that boasted the sixth best defence in League One last season.

Mark Kennedy’s side drew an unmatched 20 of their 46 games, finishing 11th overall, but an encouraging summer in the transfer market which included the addition of former Wanderers Tyler Walker, Ethan Hamilton and Lukas Jensen has left some tipping the Imps to challenge for the play-offs this time around.

“I think they will be a really tough challenge and they have recruited well again over the summer,” Evatt noted.

“Mark had a very good first season as a manager and his team is always hard to beat, hard to play against, and their home record last season was exceptional.

“They don’t concede a lot of chances, especially from open play, so we have to make sure we hit the ground running and be the best version of ourselves, which we have worked hard to do all pre-season. All of that work will be judged on Saturday and how we do in the league campaign – we’re hoping to get off to a good start but it is not easy, we’ll have to get to our level and hope that is enough for three points.”