Bolton Wanderers: Ian Evatt will fear Stockport County repeat v Blackpool | OneFootball

Bolton have struggled in big games or local derbies throughout Ian Evatt's tenure and they have another to prepare for this weekend.

Bolton Wanderers have had trouble in ‘big games’ throughout Ian Evatt’s tenure. The Whites were quite composed during their behind-closed-doors automatic promotion from League Two in 2020/21 but have struggled sincewhenever the pressure has been heightened.

Whether it be local rivalries or games against fellow promotion contenders, for whatever reason, Ian Evatt’s side have struggled to turn up and produce the goods in big moments.

The best example was their no-show at Wembley Stadium in the League One play-off final against Oxford United last season but it has been a theme and a pattern throughout Evatt’s tenure.

After a 5-0 shellacking against Stockport County at Edgeley Park before the November international break, Wanderers now take on Lancashire rivals Blackpool at the Toughsheet Community Stadium and the fear of collapsing will be great once again.

Boltonian struggles in local derbies

Bolton, for the second time in Evatt’s tenure and just the second time visiting Edgeley Park in over 20 years, conceded five goals at Stockport a couple of weeks ago.

It wasn’t the first hammering of the season with Wanderers also losing 4-0 to fellow pre-season promotion contenders Huddersfield Town in mid-September at the Toughsheet Community Stadium – the third 4-0 loss of the Evatt era at home with the other two coming against arch-rivals Wigan Athletic.

Wanderers have not been good enough in local derbies throughout the Evatt tenure and a 4-1 loss to Blackpool in February was followed immediately by a 1-0 defeat to Wigan, which contributed to the spiral that eventually saw them miss out on automatic promotion on the final day of last season.

Five of their 13 Lancashire or Greater Manchester derby victories have come against Fleetwood Town with just eight wins in 22 games against all Greater Manchester or Lancashire clubs aside from the Cod Army and four in League Two. That means Bolton have won just four 'derbies' in 16 games, outside of games against Fleetwood, in the third tier.

Bolton did have joy against Blackpool last season as they edged past the Seasiders at home last November thanks to a long-range thunderbolt from George Thomason but it was a one-off.

‘Gambler’s fallacy’ will also be in the minds of Bolton fans, too, as their opponents this weekend come into this one without a win in their last seven matches and what better way to halt the slide than against mentally fragile local rivals whom they whacked four past earlier this year.

The flat-track bullies of Bolton

Not only do Bolton seemingly feel the heat in local derbies, but they have also struggled against fellow top sides at the pointy end of the season.

Defeat to Derby County in March, in a game where once again they missed massive chances to go ahead before conceding to Kane Wilson, was the game that effectively saw their second-half of the season decline come to fruition.

In games against teams that have finished in the play-off places or automatic promotion spots during Evatt’s four-year spell in charge before this season, Bolton won just nine out of 44 matches with four of those nine games coming in League Two when they themselves gained automatic promotion. Of the five games in which they have won in League One; two have been 5-0 routs and another a 6-0 win.

That genuinely pathetic record has continued into the play-offs. In two play-off campaigns under Evatt, Bolton have won just one from five matches.

In the early stages of this campaign, Bolton have played three of the current top six, losing two and drawing one without scoring a goal.

The big occasion is not one that Evatt and his Bolton side have ever been able to rise to and they failed to do so when they travelled to the south of Greater Manchester a couple of weeks ago.

There is a fear and, more pertinently, a weary resignation within the fanbase that this weekend may bring a similar fate as they welcome fellow Lancastrians Blackpool to the Toughsheet Community Stadium.