THE cold, hard facts show the goals have dried up for Wanderers just at the worst possible time.

But, despite three matches without a goal, manager Phil Parkinson is banking on the quality his side have shown from the opening day to come to the fore once again.

Parkinson’s first match in charge saw his new team beat the side who would go on to win the title, Sheffield United.

But despite a campaign with far more ups than downs the doubts have started to creep in among the Whites’ followers, desperate to see their club return to the Championship.

Such unrest is perhaps to be expected, given the lack of goals and just one point taken from the last three games. But Parkinson feels if his men can add a degree of composure when their chances present themselves, they can take the victory that could potentially seal promotion.

“We’ve looked at the stats over the season,” the Whites boss told The Bolton News. “Say we have 10 shots on goal we’ll have had five on target, if we’ve had 20 we’ll have had 10 on target, so the ratio has been good. In the last few weeks it hasn’t been as good, we need to make sure we take our quality and some calmness into the game, that’s the key.

“In the last three games we can talk about how ‘we should have played him or we should have played him’ and there’s a big debate going on.

“We’ve had 49 attempts on goal but we haven’t made the opposition goalkeeper work enough and I think that’s the key so we have to make sure we add that. I don’t think anyone can deny the work of the team and the desire from the lads to get that victory

“When you don’t win any game there’s always talk about how we could have done this and could have done that, but if Alfie’s (Adam Le Fondre) shot that hit the underside of the bar – and probably crossed the line – goes in then everything you’ve done is correct, that’s basically the nature of football, it makes it a great game.

“We played Conor (Wilkinson) against Scunthorpe, and he was very unlucky not to get a goal. If his chance in the first half goes in we’ve made a fantastic decision to play him.

“That’s the kind of dividing lines we’re dealing in, so we’ve just got to keep, as a staff, doing what we’ve always done – have our meetings on a Thursday and look at the opposition, decide on what team we’re going to pick, like we’ve done for the majority of the season, and hopefully we’ll get it right.

“Everybody has got an opinion, that’s why the English culture of football is so ingrained in us, everybody who loves football watches it on the telly so everyone’s got a reasonable knowledge but it’s fine dividing lines.”

Those dividing lines run to the League One table too, with a two-point gap to Fleetwood Town. Scunthorpe United are a further two behind and Bradford City one more in arrears, meaning both will have to hope they will be given a chance to pounce on slip-ups from Bolton or the Cod Army.

Having worked so hard to get the club into a position where their success or failure does not rely on results elsewhere, Parkinson is determined not to let it slip from his grasp and, at the very least, go into the final day at home to Peterborough United without having to keep one ear glued to the wireless, hopeful of favours from others.

The rise of social media means the sight of fans tuned into live updates on the radio and passing the news around the terraces is virtually a thing of the past. But while he concedes it may be difficult to get away from what their rivals are up to, Parkinson is fixing the blinkers in order for his men to focus on their own match.

“I think we have to go out, as ever, to try and get the three points,” he said. “Obviously, we’ll have somebody checking the results and seeing if there’s anything we really need to know, and if there is we’ll be told, but I just want the players to focus on what they’ve got to do on the pitch and not listening to the crowd reacting to anything and being distracted.

“I just want us to get to the end of the game and see if we can take care of our own business and make that point against Bury a good one.

“Victory eliminates Scunthorpe and Bradford so if it comes down to us and Fleetwood it means two have fallen and two are left but we’ve got to get to that stage before we can talk about it.”