Wanderers may have been a little disappointed that they were unable to win all three points at Kassam Stadium despite having a number of good second-half opportunities.
A record-tying seventh straight clean sheet was maintained by Nathan Baxter’s two crucial saves made before halftime, but Bolton came strong in the second half and Evatt thought they could have gained more from the match.
“Really, there are only positives to be grateful for,” he stated. “In the first half, we were in complete control. They had one brief period of possession during which Nathan made a nice save and set up a play, but other than that, it was really just us figuring out where the space was on the pitch.
They wanted to play on the counterattack, and their pressing strategy was pretty good; we just needed to figure it out.
We told them where the space was at halftime, and the second half was, in my opinion, just total dominance. We had them pinned for extended periods of time, and we produced some excellent opportunities. On Saturday, however, we didn’t take one.
“I think there are a lot of positives to take and on another day we score two or three,” the player said after dominating the second half against one of the best teams in the league.
Despite being on their longest winning streak since 1990, Oxford, who were playing their first home game under new manager Des Buckingham, made the Wanderers work hard.
Evatt stated that his players shouldn’t feel guilty about their performance, which was generally positive.
“The players are really depressed in there, and I’ve told them that there was nothing wrong with their performance; they just need to get their lives together, stop acting negative, and pick up their bright energy again. It demonstrates the standards they are upholding right now,” he continued.
“It is encouraging to see, but if we continue to play this way, especially in a challenging environment like this, we will win more games than lose.
There were many positive aspects of the second half, as we possessed complete control and dominance, making it seem inevitable. It was simply not our evening.
“It was another clean sheet, and our current defense is really impressive.” To prevent the opposition, we are controlling the ball. I’m quite pleased with that performance.
Wanderers maintain their lead over Portsmouth on goal differential; the latter could reclaim the top spot when they play Northampton Town on Saturday.
In the FA Cup second round, Evatt’s team will play Harrogate Town, but he
“It only counts at the end of the season,” he declared. We’ll just have faith in the process and keep working toward that kind of performance; if we succeed, the season’s conclusion won’t be too far off.
“I believe we won’t be far behind if we manage to finish above Oxford as well.
They are a talented and dangerous team, and I believe we did a great job controlling their threat for the majority of the evening. My only complaint is that we didn’t score the goal we deserved in the second half.
