CHARLIE Adam believes his former Blackpool team-mate Ian Evatt deserves the chance handed to him to revive Bolton’s fortunes.

Wanderers lured the 38-year-old from Barrow to replace Keith Hill after the club’s relegation to League Two.

Evatt had guided the Cumbrians back to the Football League after nearly half a century away and was the Whites’ No.1 choice to be their new boss.

Adam played alongside the former defender during their time together at Blackpool, which included their rollercoaster 2010-11 campaign in the Premier League and has had an impact on Evatt’s managerial philosophy.

And the former Liverpool and Stoke midfielder, now with Reading in the Championship, is confident Evatt will be able to deal with the expectation that comes with getting Wanderers heading back in the right direction.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for him,” Adam told BBC Radio Manchester.

“He deserves this opportunity for what he’s done at Barrow.

“Every management move is a gamble, especially with Bolton given the troubles they’ve had in the past.

“But they’re going to get a young manager, a hungry manager, someone different from the norm, playing a brand of football they’re probably not used to.

“From what I’m led to believe, he’s going to be given a blank canvas where he can get his own players in and that’ll be good for him because he’ll be able to implement his style and how he wants to play.

“His style will be playing out from the back, similar to how we played at Blackpool.

“He’ll be excited by this because it’s another step-up. The only reason Bolton are in League Two is because of the problems they’ve had before.

“But as a club it’s a great club, a big club with good support.

“The expectation will be that they need to get promoted so there’s another added pressure for him. It’s a lot of pressure for him next season.

“But I think he’ll be able to handle it, especially if he can get the right people around him.”

David Dunn, currently a coach at Blackpool, is the favourite with bookmakers to replace Evatt at Holker Street.