"With the finances that have been spent" - Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt drops Birmingham City claim | OneFootball

The Whites boss has issued his verdict on Birmingham City after the encounter between the two clubs on Tuesday night

Bolton Wanderers manager Ian Evatt has issued his verdict on Birmingham City's credentials after his side were defeated 2-0 in the Midlands on Tuesday night.

The North West outfit have endured an inconsistent start to the campaign and find themselves in 14th place off the back of the midweek defeat at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

A five-game unbeaten run which saw Evatt's men record victories against Reading, Crawley Town, Northampton Town and Burton Albion and a 2-2 draw with Shrewsbury Town was ground to a halt, courtesy of goals from Tomoki Iwata and Jay Stansfield either side of half-time.

Despite focusing on his own team's performance, Evatt was also quick to reference the strengths of Chris Davies' side, which have, and will continue to come under the microscope as the League One season progresses.

Prior to the trip to B9, Evatt stated that he wouldn't use the financial backing through the likes of Tom Wagner and Tom Brady at Blues' disposal, and their strength-in-depth as an excuse, as his opponents arguably have the strongest squad which the division has ever seen.

However, post-match, the Coventry-born man did use the finances which included a record-breaking fee for Stansfield - who netted from the penalty spot - as a reference point, but was more-than complimentary towards the league leaders, who re-established a four-point cushion at the top of the table in the process.

“They’re a really good team, and they should be, with the finances that have been spent here. They’re as good as I’ve seen at this level," Evatt said, via Birmingham Live.

“With the personnel we had available, we had a plan to be tight and be in the game at 60 minutes and then we could get the attackers on, be a bit more adventurous and go for it."

Ian Evatt references key flashpoints that set Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers apart

Although Birmingham's individual quality showed with a sublime strike from Iwata with just two minutes on the clock, Evatt was left disappointed as to how the hosts were given such an opportunity in the first place, as well as a key moment which would've brought Bolton level late on as Ryan Allsop denied John McAtee on 79 minutes - seven minutes before Stansfield converted from the spot.

“The disappointing thing was we conceded very early on," Evatt added.

"We lost a duel in midfield that we shouldn’t have lost and then it was brilliant, but the goal was a bit self-inflicted. We hung in there and got the moment we wanted - John had to score."

“If he had, that would have been 1-1 with five, 10 minutes to go, we’d have been in the ascendancy and it would have been a really positive result. Two minutes later, Will (Forrester) was trying to block the ball and his momentum carried him through.

“You see that tackle so many times during games and the referee – who I thought was very poor – couldn’t wait to give the penalty. I was disappointed that it was another big game where a big moment has cost us.”

Bolton Wanderers need to bounce back amid indifferent 2024-25 form

As several other sides will be hoping, a loss at the hands of the side expected to make an immediate return to the Championship won't define Wanderers' season.

But, with the third tier standings already extremely congested at this stage, a return to winning ways on Saturday against Peterborough United could catapult Bolton into the play-off places, depending on other results.

With a number of matches coming up in quick succession for the Whites, it is pivotal that they take any form of positives from Tuesday's display if they are to showcase the hallmarks of a side which can compete at the top end of the table for a third-successive season.

But as has proven already, League One can be extremely volatile and there are multiple teams in the bottom half of the standings that you wouldn't necessarily expect to be there, so Evatt could do with putting another run of wins together to somewhat ease the pressure on his shoulders.