Ian Evatt says he hopes a "minority" of Barrow AFC fans do not cause anything "unpleasant" when he returns to Holker Street tomorrow.

The manager, who left AFC for Bolton in the summer, said the Trotters have been made aware by police of the potential for crowd gatherings outside the ground.

Evatt said he had no ill-feeling towards Barrow and was proud of his achievements at the club he led to promotion to the EFL.

Speaking to The Bolton News, he said: “I had a wonderful time at Barrow, a magical time, and I would hate to think that it would be spoiled by anything unpleasant.

“As with any walk of life I think the minority tend to shout loudest and I’d expect that it would only be a small number of people who feel they would have to do that. The majority would be happy with what we gave to the club.

“From my point of view, I have nothing but good things to say about my time there – the players, staff, the board and the supporters, it was a fantastic experience and I was very, very proud of what we achieved there.

“Leaving was difficult but it was a career decision, I felt I had to back myself. And the club were well rewarded for that, financially."

Evatt has questioned the “character” of his Bolton players ahead of tomorrow's game.

The former Bluebirds boss sees his side surprisingly in the lower reaches of League Two after a poor start to the campaign.

Bolton sit 20th and a point above his former club despite a heavy summer of recruitment with players such as last season’s prolific fourth-tier top scorer Eoin Doyle joining.

The Trotters’ struggles give an extra edge to tomorrow's reunion with the club Evatt led to success last season.

He described their last-minute 2-1 defeat at home to Oldham on Saturday as “disgusting” and “gutless” and added: “It’s mentality, it can’t be anything else.

“I see what they do on the training pitch and it’s exceptional. I could show all the recordings to back that up but they don’t take it into games because they are mentally weak and fragile. It doesn’t mean enough.

“And those ones will be filtered out of this club pretty quickly. There are too many people who are in their comfort zones.

“At the minute I am questioning the character of every single one of them.

“Footballers are the best in the world at making excuses. I was one for 21 years and it’s everyone else’s fault – the missus, the dog, the kids, the wind, the rain, the sun, the traffic on the way here. It’s never their fault. They have to take responsibility.”