BARRACKED, unwanted, exiled… Is it about time that Wanderers fans learned to love their born-again midfielder Liam Trotter?

Times have certainly changed since the Whites last won three games on the spin, which is exactly what they hope to achieve against Leeds United in the FA Cup this weekend.

Last time they managed such a feat, a fresh-faced Dougie Freedman was leading an unlikely dash towards the top six, still backed by the majority of the Bolton faithful.

The team that beat Yorkshire triumvirate Huddersfield Town, Doncaster Rovers and Barnsley in April 2014 contained a raft of fondly-remembered names like Chung-Yong Lee, Lukas Jutkiewicz and Andre Moritz, players that in these austere times verge on the luxurious.

But from those three line-ups, only one man is likely to take the field this weekend, and quite against the odds, given his fortunes in the intervening 21 months.

When Trotter’s name was added to a crowded midfield quota on deadline day two years ago, there was little fanfare. Freedman had stalked his signature for a while but did not have the funds to buy him outright and so agreed to take him on loan until the end of the summer when his contract at The Den expired.

Fans were clamouring for a striker. And at the time, even the arrival of Jutkiewicz had not exactly set the pulses racing.

As Wanderers surged up the table, Trotter got more and more involved. And by the time he scored a sensational 30-yard goal at Sheffield Wednesday – another White Rose win – he had graduated to his preferred midfield position and looked like he had banished the boo-boys for good.

No such luck.

Trotter struggled for fitness and started only four more games in 2014. By the time he returned, Neil Lennon was in charge and already bemoaning the number of central midfielders in his squad.

It seemed unlikely he would stick around long term. And with only a minute of senior football and more niggling injuries to his name, a loan move to Nottingham Forest looked to have closed the chapter on his Bolton career.

Trotter scored on his debut at the City Ground but never quite secured a regular starting spot. When Forest failed to clear a transfer embargo at the turn of the year his chances of a permanent move evaporated and it was seemingly back to purgatory at the Macron.

One thing his spell in the East Midlands had given him, however, was fitness. And despite being harangued by the travelling supporters when he came off the bench at Eastleigh to make his first appearance in five months, he instantly made an impression in the mud to help grind out a replay.

Trotter was rewarded a few days later with a start at Sheffield Wednesday, and gave another performance to make fans sit up and take notice.

His form ever since has been solid, even in a dreadful team display at Forest. And in the past couple of weeks he has also helped bring the best out of Mark Davies and Darren Pratley, allowing them to break forward with more regularity.

Whereas Trotter looks at odds with a deeper-lying midfield role earlier in his Whites career, he now looks to have settled in. Against MK Dons he made more tackles (six) than any other Wanderers player and also matched that up with two shots on target.

Lennon had called for some consistency from a player who fits the mould of midfielder he has wanted in his team from day one, and may finally be getting it as he bears down on another Yorkshire scalp.

“Liam has been playing really well,” said the Wanderers boss. “We asked him to try and maintain that kind of form and he hasn’t let us down.

“He’s one of a few players who are finding their feet a little bit at the minute and we need to tap into that.

“If we are going to do anything this season then we have to start grinding results out.”