BEN Alnwick doesn’t think the continental style will catch on at Wanderers any time soon.

Goalkeeping used to be a simple art of stopping the ball reaching the back of the net but lately a shift towards controlling possession from the back means some stoppers have had to find a whole new skillset.

The European managerial invasion is evident as Norwich’s Daniel Farke, Reading’s Jaap Stam, Leeds’ Thomas Christiansen, Fulham’s Slavisa Jokanivic, Hull City’s Leonid Slutsky, Sheffield Wednesday’s Carlos Carvalhal and Wolves’s Nuno Santi – the man in the opposite dugout tomorrow – exert their influence on the second tier.

And with them has come a marked difference in the style of football played across the division. Wanderers are conceding the lion’s share of possession with regularity each week as Phil Parkinson sticks to a more traditional counter-attacking style.

Watching from a safe distance as Reading’s goalkeeper Anssi Jaakola ducked and dived with the ball at his feet on Tuesday night reminded Alnwick he should be grateful for small mercies.

“I played that way at Peterborough, forcing it out at the back and on certain days it’s great, you can turn a team over three or four-nil and look amazing,” he told The Bolton News. “Other days it’s a nightmare. I thought we did well against Reading, let them have the ball where they are not going to hurt us but then squash them and get on top.

“I’m happy with what I’m doing here. You can tell that’s the way some teams want to play because it suits the players they have got.

“Goalkeepers trying to pass it out can definitely work. But sometimes you’ve got to roll your sleeves up and it’s not a style which would suit us, anyway.”

Wanderers may face more of the same at Molineux tomorrow, as Wolves’ expensively-assembled band of European stars look for a fifth consecutive victory.

After tearing through 10-man Leeds in midweek to extend their lead at the top of the table, Bolton’s old foes are already looking a safe bet for promotion.

But Alnwick remains confident the Whites can go to the Black Country and bring back at least a point.

“It’s frightening what they have spent,” he said of Wanderers’ opponents, who splashed out nearly £20million in the last transfer window. “We’ll give them respect but we won’t fear them. It’s just another game for us to keep our unbeaten run going. If we can get a win then great, a point would be a good point.

“To fans and people outside you might look at it as a ‘free hit’ and not expect us to get anything. But to the lads it’s an opportunity and we’ve beaten some good teams like Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich. We’ve proved we can match up.

“Nothing changes at Wolves. They’re a good team, yes, but we go there looking for a result.”

Wanderers could have been out of the bottom three with victory over Reading in midweek but two late Royals goals left a sour taste in the mouth, despite an unbeaten record stretching to seven games.

“It’s the first time I’ve really felt we’ve dropped points and should have done better,” Alnwick said.

“It looked like we had it in the bag at half time. It’s two points dropped, isn’t it? At 2-0 at home we should be finishing them off.

“I think we tried to go and get the third goal but it’s maybe a natural reaction to sit back more. On another day we score the third because their keeper made a couple of world class saves at the end.”

Phil Parkinson has the option of restoring Mark Beevers to his defence tomorrow after the centre-back completed his one-match suspension.

Alnwick was impressed with Beevers’ deputy, Reece Burke, who along with fellow loanee Josh Cullen has found himself out of the reckoning of late.

“He is a cracking player, big, quick, strong and good on the ball,” he said of Burke. “I thought he did really well considering he hadn’t played for a while.

“It’s tough when you are out of the team but that’s football. The two West Ham lads Burkey and Josh, Jem, Alf, they work their socks off.

“You can only hope when you get your chance that you do well, and I think Burkey did that against Reading.

“That’s why it’s worth training hard every day.”