GEORGE Taft accepts more must be done by Wanderers’ summer signings to show why they were brought to the University of Bolton Stadium.

Five straight defeats at the start of this season in league and cup was not in the script for Ian Evatt’s side, who were ranked as title favourites before a ball was kicked.

The poor form has raised questions among supporters of the club’s summer recruitment, via Evatt and the head of football operations, Tobias Phoenix.

Taft, who is one of the new additions, joining the Whites on a free transfer from Cambridge United, does not hide from the fact that performances thus far have not been up to scratch.

“It needs to mean more to us,” he told The Bolton News. “We have to get out there and show why we’re at this club.

“Things need to fall into place and get some wins. Football is a crazy business and there are always highs and lows.

“But we’re at a club with the stadium, the facilities, and we have to earn our spot.

“We need to prove why we’ve got a shirt on our back and we’re just not doing that at the minute.”

As promotion contenders, Wanderers could hardly face a bigger banana skin than this weekend’s opponents, Harrogate.

The Yorkshire side are playing at Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium as they wait for their own ground to be converted from an all-weather surface to a turf one, and enter into the Football League for the first time in their history.

Taft has seen first-hand what a result against Bolton can mean to opponents this season.

“I think every week there’s a target on our back, considering the size of the club compared to pretty much everyone else in the league,” he said.

“Newport celebrated like they’d beaten Liverpool. It’s just what we’ll come up against.

“We need to show why we’re at Bolton, why this club is big, and why we want to get it back to where it needs to be.”

Saturday will be the first of eight October fixtures for Wanderers, in what will currently be the most congested month of their season.

Evatt has brought in back-up, adding Lloyd Isgorve and Arthur Gnahoua to the squad last week, and will be hoping his injury list can be minimised in the coming weeks.

Taft envisages a difficult month – but the defender believes it could be even easier to get on a roll with games packed together so tightly.

“It is difficult on the legs but it could be a good thing if we get a win,” he said. “It can change for us.

“We can get up the board and the confidence will grow. A couple of goals and I think the confidence will spread among the lads, who are good individual players.

“When we get that win we can really build on it. If games are coming thick and fast then we can get that momentum.

“If we can get a result Saturday – then Tuesday-Saturday again – it can really start us off.”