WANDERERS’ defensive record over the last decade has not been top notch – but that is not to say they have not had some impressive talent at hand.

Right-back has not been an easy position to fill for Bolton in recent times, reflected in the fact that no specialist has managed more than 100 appearances since 2010.

Both Gretar Steinsson and Sam Ricketts were established the squad at the tail end of the Premier League adventure but found themselves victim of a cost-cutting exercise after relegation.

Iceland international Steinsson had been a fixture and fitting in the top flight following a £3.5m move from AZ Alkmaar in January 2008. He played his last game at Stoke City as the drop was confirmed with a 2-2 draw.

Wales international Ricketts had been a versatile member of the squad, playing right across the back line. He held down a position at right-back in the first season back in the Championship but was released the following summer, joining Wolves.

The Bolton News: FIRST GLIMPSE: Pawel Olkowski in action for Wanderers against Morecambe at the training ground on Tuesday afternoon

Polish defender Pawel Olkowski looked like a quality addition when he burst on to the scene at the start of the 2018/19 season – reclaiming a place in the international squad after an absence of three years. He played 39 times in total before financial issues prompted him to hand in his notice and seek employment elsewhere.

On the opposite side of defence, left-back has arguably been an even harder position to nail down.

The multi-faceted Ricketts could conceivably make a case for the position, as could Marcos Alonso who had yet to fully mature when he arrived from Real Madrid for £1.5m but who has since gone on to great things with Fiorentina and Chelsea.

The tough-tackling Paul Robinson played 79 top-flight games at left-back for Bolton in the first couple of years of the decade while Andy Taylor racked up 88 games under Phil Parkinson, helping the team back into the Championship.

At centre-half the decade produced a handful of obvious contenders.

The Bolton News: Wanderers' David Wheater celebrates his winning goal with mascot Lofty the Lion

No player in the last 10 years has played more games for Bolton than David Wheater, the centre-back recruited from Middlesbrough for £2.3million in January 2011.

Had it not been for some serious injury problems early in his Bolton career, Wheater’s tally of 236 games and 16 goals would have been considerably higher.

Perhaps Wheater’s most consistent spell was whilst playing alongside Mark Beevers, the burly Yorkshiremen signed on a free from Millwall soon after Phil Parkinson took charge in the summer of 2016.

Both Wheater and Beevers contributed to one of Bolton’s best-ever defensive campaigns but also weighed in with goals – 16 shared between them, in fact.

Gary Cahill made 75 appearances for Bolton in the decade before his £7m move to Chelsea, and became the first Bolton player to score for England since Ray Parry in 1959 when he netted against Bulgaria in September 2011.

Considered somewhat of a gamble when he arrived from Aston Villa for £5m a few years earlier, the defender was moulded into a top-class defender. The only complaint from Bolton fans would be that the club did not command a higher fee when he left for Stamford Bridge.

The Bolton News: Wanderers defender Tim Ream in his protective mask

Cahill’s replacement was American, Tim Ream, who cost £2.5million from New York Red Bulls.

Comfortable on the ball and deceptively quick, he went on to make more than a century of appearances at Bolton as a centre-half and, on occasion, a full-back.

Ream was sold to Fulham for £2.7m in August 2015 and remains a regular in the Londoners’ side to this day.

It was Ream’s departure that really opened the door for Rob Holding, the shining light of a dismal 2015/16 season.

It had been some transformation for the homegrown defender, who had been loaned out to Bury the previous year, but after breaking into Neil Lennon’s side his improvement was rapid.

A move to Arsenal was confirmed on the final weekend of the season and his consequent push to England Under-21 honours and Premier League football are testament to the coaches who helped him through the Bolton system.

Defenders with more than 30 appearances: Alex Baptiste 43, Andy Taylor 88, Antonee Robinson 34, David Wheater 236, Dean Moxey 82, Derik Osede 71, Dorian Dervite 99, Gary Cahill 75, Gretar Steinsson 72, Jack Hobbs 34, Lawrie Wilson 39, Marcos Alonso 46, Mark Beevers 132, Mark Little 35, Matt Mills 94, Paul Robinson 79, Pawel Olkowski 39, Rob Holding 30, Sam Ricketts 99, Tim Ream 126, Tyrone Mears 32, Zat Knight 173.