IAN Evatt aims to maintain a ‘clean sheet mindset’ at Wanderers following a crucial victory at Crawley Town.

The Bolton manager lauded his team’s defensive fortitude and tactical performance after deviating from their usual gameplan at Broadfield Stadium.

Kyle Dempsey and John McAtee scored the goals, propelling the Whites to 14th position in the table and their first back-to-back league wins since early April.

“It’s baby steps forward now, building on this, and clean sheets are always a positive thing for us, as are fast starts, we know we win games when we can achieve these things,” says Evatt.

“I was pleased with how the game started and delighted with the clean sheet; we really need to go back to keeping those because it’s important in what we do.

“Defensively, I was really pleased with what I saw from everyone, really, so we need to keep that up.”

Wanderers intentionally gave up possession at Crawley in order to catch their opponents off guard. And, while the strategy looked out of character for both the manager and his players, the outcome indicated that the plan worked perfectly.

“It isn’t how I want to play, or like to play, you know I want to dominate the ball, but sometimes you have to respect the opposition and the fact we were away from home,” Evatt told the media.

“We felt that if we could lure them into that expansive shape, steal the midfield and then transition quickly we would create a lot of opportunities and that played out in the first half, in particular.”

Evatt claimed that he was inspired to attempt something new after his team’s performance against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup a few days before.

Despite a 5-1 loss to the Premier League team, the manager said his team’s off-ball performance indicated potential for a different approach in Crawley.

He said: “I still believe there were positives to take away from Wednesday because Arsenal does not surrender many opportunities, and in the first half, in particular, we were defensive and cautious, and we might have grabbed the lead with two great chances and a penalty that was turned down. In addition to the faults, which are usually not penalized in our division, I believed there were some positive aspects to it.

“And because we were so diligent out of possession on Wednesday, I felt confident enough to do it today and say, ‘OK, we’ll sacrifice a little bit more.'”

“We can be successful if we steal the ball, turn it over quickly, and move forward quickly once they form an expansive shape with three backs spread across the pitch.” “I think we saw the first half.”

Wanderers have also stated that defender Chris Forino will be out of action for two months due to a hamstring injury.

The centre-back pulled up in the second half against Arsenal, leaving Bolton with little central defensive backup until the international break.

Read more on sportupdates.co.uk