FLICKING through the statistics, it is hard to imagine that Bolton Wanderers 2.0 could be a success without Dapo Afolayan at its core.

Top scorer with 10 goals in all competitions, the league’s most successful dribbler who incredibly also turns up in the top 20 for tackles, the winger has also had the most blocked shots in League One and is ranked 10th on ‘key passes’ which contribute directly to a scoring chance.

The numbers all add up to a very successful season in Bolton colours for Afolayan, yet those who have watched him in the last couple of months will attest his electric form earlier in the campaign plateaued.

He had been the touchpoint for every Wanderers attack at one stage, yet opposition managers quickly grew wise, often double marking him.

Afolayan has also led another table from the opening day of the season, that of the division’s most fouled player, and while some defenders will claim he has ‘won’ free kicks on occasion, there can be little doubt that his ability to quickly shift the ball and accelerate has tricked many, many more.

With all that said, victory against Ipswich Town last weekend was achieved without Afolayan in the starting line-up, something which had not happened in a league game since Newport County last April.

The team, which used wing-backs Marlon Fossey and Declan John for width, had moved to a 5-3-2 and produced its most effective performance for some time.

Bolton used three central midfielders, Aaron Morley, MJ Williams and Kieran Lee, and a two-man attack, where Amadou Bakayoko partnered Dion Charles.

It was new, more direct, an intriguing glimpse of where the team might go next.

Of course, Afolayan came off the bench to replace Charles and grab his first league goal since October with a delicious piece of opportunism. As reminders to Ian Evatt go, he could hardly have been more blatant had he taken out a pitch-side advert.

But even as the winger celebrated with his team-mates and sent the crowd into that oh-so-familiar chorus, you could not help but wonder where he sits in the manager’s new plan?

Afolayan has played centrally in his non-league days, so could potentially play foil to Charles, Bakayoko, or the incoming Icelander, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.

Evatt’s plan may not be to stick rigidly to the 5-3-2, alternating with wider players when it may better suit the game. With Lloyd Isgrove on the comeback trail and Xav Amaechi also inching his way back to fitness, there will be a few who hope that is the case.

Right now, it would be a surprise to see Evatt deviate from a winning formula at Shrewsbury, so the talismanic Afolayan may have to share the spotlight he has held since August.