IAN Evatt insists there is still hope for Wanderers’ promotion ambitions in League One – but admits the current backlash from supporters has caught some of his players off-guard.

Boos rang out once again at the final whistle in Saturday’s 2-2 draw against struggling Cambridge United, a point rescued only by a 90th minute own goal.

Banners and chants aimed at Evatt were present for most of the day – and there were also reports of angry exchanges between the manager and supporters as the players went in at half time.

The result actually took Bolton into ninth, three points behind sixth-placed Stockport County, with a game in hand.

Evatt maintains he has the backing of his players and the Bolton board but knows that, for the time being at least, he will have to manage without the majority of supporters on his side.

“We’re one win away and it’s a hard sell, I get it, but that is the reality of the situation,” he told The Bolton News.

“We're not out of it. We've still got stuff to play for. The best thing for everybody is to be supportive.

“It's football. I have to not take it so personally and make sure that I'm positive and focused on what I'm trying to do. But people are forgetting four and a half years of good work and from this club being in ground zero.

“Which is each to their own. Some of the social media stuff, you can't control. That's just become way out of hand.

“The reality of that is that people with 20 or 30 followers want 40 followers. They feel like the best way to do that is to be over-aggressive and personal, which is the way of the world.”

New £1.2million signing Joel Randall made his debut in unhappy circumstances at Rotherham United and played his first home game against a similarly negative backdrop.

Asked what the midfielder’s reaction had been to the situation, Evatt said it had caught him by surprise.

“He's shocked by it,” he added. “I think he's shocked by it because from the outsiders looking in, I've always said that we're viewed as a really good football team and a really good football club. And I think coming from somewhere where Peterborough are 19th, if we were 19th, maybe there's justification. As I said, it's not, we're not.

“We're two games from Wembley in one competition. We could still get promoted in this competition. So, all is not lost.

“We have to do our best to support the players for as long as we can because I do believe that everyone wants to see us win. There's no one that wants to see us win more than me. And we're working very hard to try and make that happen.”

Wanderers are expected to make a defensive signing on loan this week, a situation which may have become more pressing after Ricardo Santos was substituted at half time against Cambridge because of a long-standing hip issue.

The centre-back has been managing the issue for a few weeks but struggled in the first half and had to be withdrawn.

Eoin Toal is also due back in full training this week after a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.