Bolton Wanderers manager Ian Evatt is backing Gethin Jones to bounce back after he serves his suspension.
Jones will be serving a three-match ban after his sending off in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Peterborough United.
Evatt has already voiced his concerns over discipline with George Thomason also suspended after living up five yellow cards in League One this season.
This will give opportunities for others to come in and make a case for them starting in future games, but Evatt believes Jones will stay strong and fight to come back into the side in a few weeks’ time.
“Being a football player, being involved in this industry, it isn’t always sunshine – you will have to face some dark spells and some adversity,” he told The Bolton News. “At some time you’ll lose form, you will lose confidence, and you have to overcome it and go again.
“There are a few players at the moment who are having a less consistent spell than we have seen from them in the past. That is part of the game and they have to get through it.
“This is going to be a challenging time. Geth is out for three games, there are going to be people coming in to take his place and try to make it their own.
Ian Evatt keen to give players opportunities to play
Evatt is still keen to give opportunities however, with Will Forrester coming in for the injured captain Ricardo Santos, who Evatt said was ‘brilliant’.
“I thought Will Forrester was absolutely brilliant on Saturday, so as I said last week, when you give people opportunities you can sometimes unearth talents, as we did with Eoin Toal last season. I think there will be opportunities now for people to play.”