SO many times last season Wanderers would get a set piece, send the familiar names forward and see it completely wasted.

A corner hitting the first defender, a free kick flying over the head of everyone or simply rebounding harmlessly off the wall, we’d seen it all before.

Saturday’s win over Fleetwood was quite different. Wanderers, all of a sudden, look a threat whenever they get a dead ball or a throw around the penalty box – and what a fine weapon that is to have in your Arsenal in this rough and ready league.

The League One campaign may only be a few weeks old but we’ve already sussed out that the Whites are not going to be able to play free-flowing football away from home, where some of the pitches present their own unique challenges. They have to adapt.

It seems Phil Parkinson has addressed that on the training ground. And why not when you have 6ft 5ins David Wheater, 6ft 4ins Mark Beevers, 6ft 3ins Gary Madine and 6ft 2ins Liam Trotter and Jamie Proctor at your disposal?

Dean Moxey’s long throw – usually aimed towards Beevers at the near post – has become a fixture of the opening four wins.

And Jay Spearing’s delivery from free kicks – when he is not putting them in the top corner – has also improved this season.

Routines have been clearly been rehearsed in training and for the first time in a long time, do not seem to be entirely made up on the spot.

I seem to remember a certain other successful Bolton Wanderers manager taking maximum advantage of what is a relatively simple aspect of the game, and frustrating the hell out of Premier League opponents. It isn’t pretty at times but aesthetics don’t matter a jot when you are winning games, and the Whites are finding a way to do just that at the moment.