Bolton Wanderers: Ian Evatt sends warning to Wigan Athletic, Shaun Maloney | OneFootball

Ian Evatt has sent a warning to Shaun Maloney ahead of Bolton Wanderers' clash against Wigan Athletic.

Bolton Wanderers host Wigan Athletic on Saturday during a lunchtime kick-off at the Toughsheet Community Stadium in League One.

For most Bolton fans, their biggest rivals are Blackburn Rovers, with the fixture known as the "Cotton Mills Derby" due to the clubs' shared history in Lancashire's textile industry. Other local derbies include games against both of the Manchester clubs and Bury historically.

Wigan's main local rivals are the likes of Preston North End and Blackburn, both of whom they have faced regularly in the EFL. However, the rivalry with Bolton has grown in recent years, especially as their proximity in Greater Manchester has fostered a fierce rivalry.

Once a Premier League fixture on a regular basis during the 'Barclays' era, it is now a key League One derby between two of the division's biggest sides. Although they are currently enduring contrasting fortunes in the third tier at present.

Ian Evatt's sends Wigan Athletic warning ahead of Bolton clash

Ian Evatt has been speaking to The Bolton News, where he sent a warning to the visitors after they got the better of Bolton during their lat two visits: “I see a huge determination in the players to right some wrongs. We are all competing on Saturday, every one of us, and we need to make sure we get on the right side of our direct opponent.

“We need our fans to make as much noise as they can and make it as difficult as possible for their players. We need our players to win duels, win tackles, win first and second contacts, put pressure on the ball and their goal.

“Then, tactically and in team selection, I need to get the better of Shaun (Maloney), that’s the nature of football, it always creates these individual challenges.

“In a derby game you have to win the majority of those challenges. That is where our focus lies, we know what we need to do. This is an opportunity to put things right.”

“The fans will be nervous, and we all should be, because if you are not nervous then you don’t care enough. The fact we all care should mean we are able to push ourselves and play our best football.

“From my perspective, I don’t miss playing at all. But on the very rare times that I do, it is for games like this. I would love to play on Saturday. I’d relish it, enjoy it, embrace it, and I would make sure I did what I needed to do to help my team win; and we need the players to do exactly that.

“I think we have signed some players who will embrace it and I heard George Thomason speaking earlier about them asking questions of the other players about what it means, what it feels like. We will be ready for it. I feel like the want to prove a point.”

If Bolton and Evatt have designs on automatic promotion, then they need to put a winning run together to close the gap on the likes of Birmingham City, Wrexham, and Wycombe Wanderers. Meanwhile, Wigan's lack of goals has meant that they are struggling for points on a consistent basis and house fears of their own.

Bolton head into a fixture which has brought little but misery in the last decade, with over 20,000 expected to be in attendance where they will be awaiting a response from Bolton from the last two home games against the Latics. The away side ran out victorious in two 4-0 victories during their previous visits.

The current head-to-head record overall for the teams is that Bolton have four wins, Wigan have six wins, and there have been eight draws. Bolton and Evatt need to respond better and get the monkey off their back from the recent defeats to their local rivals.