HARKING back to the echoing stadia and socially distanced seating of the pandemic era, Wanderers have not looked entirely comfortable generating their own momentum in the last couple of games.

Without the cut and thrust of a living, breathing, cheering, denigrating crowd these friendlies feel – as so often described – as extended training sessions, from which it is difficult to make many too many solid assumptions.

Wigan, just 90 minutes into their own pre-season, had barely changed a jot. Their attacking line remains as physical as anything around, they continue to sacrifice possession and territory in the hope of hitting fast and hard on the break, and they remain pretty good at doing it, too.

But Wanderers have tweaked their own approach this summer, trying to improve on the high pressing game they had almost grasped by the end of last season. And to do that without the stimulus of live fans, not to mention points at stake, is not always easy.

Had Elias Kachunga put Bolton on the board with his 25th minute penalty, the Latics may have been nudged from their gameplan. In the event, the club will be doing well to retrieve the ball from Bolton Golf Club, where it will surely have bounced past a few bewildered people teeing off in the Saturday lunchtime sun.

That Charlie Wyke converted his own penalty just a few minutes later gave Leam Richardson’s side a chance to double down. And few sides Bolton face this season will be more resilient.

Wanderers certainly created enough chances to have drawn themselves level but on a hot afternoon – the Lostock plain somehow still managing to whip up a gale – they never quite moved the ball with enough ferocity to knock their opponents completely out of synch.

Ian Evatt used the words “moral victory” to rattle cages in WN5 as only he knows how, but one wonders whether it will only be with fans in attendance at Carlisle, or at home to Huddersfield, when his side really get the required inspiration?

That is not to say this 90-minute workout was in any way a negative experience. Dapo Afolayan always seems to enjoy locking horns with Wigan, and it was only a shame that James McClean was absent from the squad on this occasion, for that contest is always worth watching.

Afolayan has not looked better in pre-season, demanding the ball, linking play, and getting himself into some good goalscoring areas. But for some fine goalkeeping from ex-Wanderer Ben Amos and some last-ditch defending his name would have been on the scoresheet well before Kachunga’s penalty was ballooned way over the crossbar.

The former West Ham man looks like he is going to have to wrap his head around playing number 10 again, as opposed to the wide-left role which brought him so much success in the first half of last season. On this evidence, he looks keen.

Another stand-out on the afternoon was George Johnston at the back. Not only did he match-up to some serious heft in Stephen Humphrys, Charlie Wyke and later Josh Magennis, he also used the ball as well as anyone on the day.

Jack Iredale’s arrival has given Johnston a direct competitor in the squad, and his response so far must have pleased the Bolton boss.

It is possibly too early to read much into Wanderers’ starting line-up and whether it will have any bearing on the team that takes the field against Ipswich Town in three weeks, but Kachunga’s pre-season scoring form has certainly made a strong case for his inclusion.

Yes, he will be glad no fans were there to film the aforementioned penalty miss, and it may be that Dion Charles and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson are most people’s favourites to get the front two slots at Portman Road. Yet Kachunga has come back this summer looking sharp in most aspects of his play, and with a full pre-season behind him could yet surprise a few people at the UniBol.

Whereas Wigan exchanged their whole team at half-time, Evatt left his starting line-up out there for an hour before making changes.

Amadou Bakayoko’s absence with a minor knee injury meant a first look at Connor Stanley, the diminutive attacker picked up on a free transfer from Manchester United.

Although clearly build to play wider, or as a number 10, the youngster has received some good reports since signing for Matt Craddock’s side and could be one on which to keep an eye when the B Team friendly fixtures begin this week.

Wanderers’ stranglehold on possession tightened in the second half to the point that the game resembled attack v defence for most of the last 15 minutes. It was at that stage a cool, calm head was needed, but that the team of replacements – many of them younger players – did not quite have the required killer touch.

In fairness, Wigan spring forward in the last few minutes to create a few chances of their own, one hooked off the line by Kieran Lee and another pushed away by Joel Dixon – whose own pre-season form has also been encouraging.

Darren Handley’s final whistle marked the end of a bright contest in which Evatt’s side showed again they were not far off an opponent who will be playing Championship football next season. The trick, as he well knows, will be to match their level this season if any suggestion of promotion is to be entertained.

Wanderers have not spent big this summer, looking to the training ground to find the extra 10 per cent they need to be considered one of League One’s elite. Things appear to be heading in the right direction and by the time Bolton’s fans can clap eyes on their side again at Carlisle, their progress will very nearly be ready to judge.