Player contract talks are 'progressing' says Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt

WANDERERS have had dialogue with some of the players who fall out of contract next summer – but Ian Evatt is keen to keep the topic off the agenda for now.

Several first team stars including Nathan Baxter, Ricardo Santos, Josh Dacres-Cogley, Randell Williams, Josh Sheehan, Gethin Jones Joel Coleman, Luke Matheson and Luke Hutchinson, are in the final year of their current contract.

Evatt had said in July that any extended deals would “need to be earned” but knowing that the affected stars could negotiate with new clubs from January, the Whites are now reaching the point where some decisions will need to be made.

The Bolton boss hinted that some agreements may already be in place but with the club still fighting to get back into the top six – something they could achieve with a win at Stevenage tonight – he is reluctant to create a distraction.

“Things are progressing all the time and whether players are in contract or coming out of contract, they all know where they stand, and that is important,” he told The Bolton News.

“We will keep monitoring the situation as we go along and announce things when we feel the time is right.

“But for now we are just focussed on the job at hand, really, and that is getting back to where we want to be. I don’t think we are a million miles away now, we have worked hard to try and get there but we are definitely not there yet. We have all just got our heads down, focussed on the next game and the next three points.”

Evatt has now completed his three-match touchline suspension, awarded for a red card in the 2-2 draw against Shrewsbury Town, and will be back in the dugout tonight at the Lamex Stadium.

He had taken a position on the TV gantry for the two home games encompassed by the ban but it looking forward to returning to familiar territory.

“Harry (Taylor) our analyst won’t miss me being up there, he’s probably had earache over the last few games,” he said.

“It had some positives as well, I have to say that, the vantage point and some of the views you can get make it more simple to tactically analyse games and see where the space is, but then you obviously have to communicate that to the players.

“I’m looking forward to being back in the heat of the battle again. Lessons have obviously and clearly been learned from my side and I have served my punishment, it’s my job to make sure that never happens again. I’m looking forward to being a part of it.”

Saturday’s home win against Peterborough was regarded by most as Bolton’s best performance of the season and Evatt is hoping that momentum can now continue against a side which has never beaten them in league competition.

“I thought we played very well for 90 minutes at Northampton, obviously the game had a bit of a different perspective given the last few minutes of extra time, but the performance itself was excellent,” he said.

“We have done it in flashes. I think Shrewsbury away in the cup was a very good performance but we haven’t reached that level consistently and it should probably gives us some comfort that we are saying that on the back of the run we’re on.

“If we can build on what we showed, it was a reminder for everybody, including ourselves, of what we are capable of doing.

“Tuesday night isn’t going to look the same but we know by now that we have to win in different ways in this division and Tuesday will be a different test.”