LATEST: Play-off chasers reveal latest on Liverpool starlet, Portsmouth rival boss in climbdown and Barton reveals Bristol Rovers January plans

Teen is hot to Trot for Evatt

Bolton boss Ian Evatt believes Liverpool hope Conor Bradley is staying with his side for the season.

Bradley has made a strong impression with the Trotters this term, with the right-back bagging four goals amid 23 appearances to date.

Evatt feels there’s nothing to suggest the 19-year-old won’t be staying for the the campaign.

He told the Manchester Evening News: ‘All I can say is the messaging we’ve had from Liverpool is really consistent throughout and they want him to be here for the remainder of the season. From what I understand from Conor, he loves this place, he loves being with us and wants to be a part of it for the remainder of the season.

‘I don’t envisage that changing. If it does it does and that’s out of our hands. I spoke last week about controlling the controllables and that for us now is kind of out of our hands a little bit.

‘But all we’ve done is show Conor and Liverpool that we are a trusted ally and that we can develop and help their players grow and I think we’ve done that for Conor and we’ll certainly do that for Owen Beck as well.

‘When we bought Conor in, it was to give him the platform to have a full season of men’s football and to have a good season, a successful season, and somewhere he can grow and develop.

‘I don’t see why the plans should change because we’ve stuck to our half of the bargain. I don’t think that’s right or fair but that’s Liverpool’s decision and all we can do is show them our best and I think we’ve done that.

‘We’ve got a really good relationship with Liverpool, the loans manager is coming to visit us on Thursday, not for any other reason but to see the boys and see how we’re getting on. We have a fantastic relationship with them.’

Mac steps back after squad attack

Peterborough boss Grant McCann admitted emotions got the better of him after bemoaning his squads lack of numbers.

McCann insisted he ‘questioned certain issues’ and was ‘planning to do something about it’ in the January window, after Exeter snared a 3-2 come-from-behind victory against the Posh last month.

But McCann has now distanced himself from those comments.

He told the Peterborough Telegraph: ‘Straight after a game in the heat of the moment emotion can get the better of you and you say things you regret. It's why I try not to speak to the chairman until a Monday!

‘I actually like this group. I wouldn't want to disrupt them too much in January.

‘We’ll see if anything happens. It could be one or two players will want to go and play some games, but we’re not looking to make any sort of drastic changes as we’re pleased with the group.

‘We can’t go over the top with certain players because we need them, but it’s about learning.

‘We’ll just keep making them understand how important it is to do their jobs and hopefully we will improve.’

Barton’s Jan plan

Joey Barton is predicting minor surgery on his squad in the January window.

The Bristol Rovers boss anticipates a couple of players moving in and out of his squad in the new year.

He told Bristol Live: ‘I don’t know what’s available. It’s a strange window, January.

‘For me, it will be a couple of people going out and a couple of people coming in. That’s always ideal, slight tweaking, it’s just natural for every January.

‘Wael (Al-Qadi) has been superb in his support and just chatting around some of the targets that could be available in January, he’s keen on producing a really good team for the football club and his support has been incredible since we’ve been here.

‘We’re always looking to evolve and move the group forward. If January presents an opportunity to do that, I think we’ll do that.

‘I expect it won’t be masses of changes because we only need a bit of adjustment, but there will be lads here who haven’t played enough and will naturally want to go out and play from the start.’