ARTHUR Gnahoua’s late goal against Mansfield Town still brings a smile to Ian Evatt’s face four years later – and the Bolton boss is seeking similar inspiration in his most recent visit to Field Mill.

It might not require quite the drastic turnaround in fortunes to get Wanderers back into the promotion picture in 2025 as it did in the manager’s first season in League Two, when they were still dwelling down in the bottom six at this time of year.

But there is no question that the direction of travel has to be a positive one from here to May if the Whites have any chance of playing Championship football.

Asked about comparisons with his debut season, Evatt said: “We’ve won 10 games so far, so I’d suggest we need to win 14 or 15 of the last 25 games, which isn’t quite as extreme, and I think this group is capable. About 25 wins and some draws normally gets you pretty close and that is what we’ll be aiming for and we’ll build from there.

“There is a long way to go and a lot of football to be played, that’s what I’ll say. Things can change quickly. My teams have historically been able to put together big runs and consistent runs, and we know we need to find one now.”

With wet weather spreading right across the country this weekend, it is fingers crossed all around that there are no issues with the pitch at Mansfield, as there were back in 2021.

Two games were postponed, one at very late notice, and on both occasions the team had travelled the night before to prepare. Players set off yesterday afternoon from the Toughsheet Stadium to start that same trip again but did so in good sprits after a solid win against Lincoln which lifted them to eight spot in the table.

Evatt said: “We need to start building some momentum and consistency, we have been on the recovery too often, had to respond too often. We have to find a level that we are comfortable with that gets us regular results and this one is a tough game but I know we are capable of doing it.

“We have been there before, I remember the game well. The weather was the same as it is out there now and Arthur scored a late winner. That was at the very start of our incredible run and it would be nice if this was the start of the same thing, an incredible run to get to where we want to be.”

Wanderers beat Mansfield on penalties in the Carabao Cup earlier this season after a hard-fought 90 minutes which finished one apiece. As such, Evatt feels he has a good idea what to expect from Nigel Clough’s promoted Stags.

“I don’t think there will be any surprises,” he said. “Nigel is an incredibly experienced manager, football man, and he knows the game very well. Like any game we’ll both have a plan and whoever takes the moments will win the game, and we have to make sure that’s us.”