OCTOBER looms, and a month that will truly test Wanderers’ claim to be promotion contenders in League One.

Jamming in the postponed match at Cheltenham Town on Tuesday week, Ian Evatt’s men face eight games in all competitions before Halloween.

Their start to the season has been solid. Last Saturday’s win against Peterborough United was particularly pleasing, as it showed a rough and ready side to the team that has often been questioned against more physical opponents.

There are areas to improve, not least in the final third of the pitch, where the quality of the chances Wanderers create has paled in comparison to the number of goals they score.

To stand fifth at this stage is arguably ahead of schedule, given some of the bigger clubs and budgets faced so far. But Tuesday night’s game at Tranmere Rovers has kicked up a little cloud of doubt at a time when everything appeared to be running smoothly.

Bolton’s team at Prenton Park, while much changed from the one that played at the University of Bolton Stadium three days earlier, was more than capable of carving out a result in the Papa Johns Trophy.

The performance, particularly in the first half, was downright worrying.

A few of the protagonists are absolved of blame, whether they are recently returned from injury or lacking in experience, but others will look upon that 90 minutes as a real missed opportunity.

Such is Evatt’s rotation system, players are not going to get a month’s worth of games to play themselves into form. They need to be ready at an instant, or content to spend time on the bench or, worse, in the stands.

A lot of the criticism centred on goalkeeper Joel Dixon’s part in the first goal – and watching replays back, I do wonder whether he had been caught off-guard by Kieron Morris’ shot. But nobody walked back down the tunnel at half time without some sort of culpability for what had been a truly dismal 45 minutes of football.

Things did improve, but not by that much. Bolton scored two good goals and showed a little more urgency, but I would be surprised if anyone felt they had legitimately played their way into the manager’s thoughts for the Lincoln game.

October has not been a kind month for Evatt in his time at Wanderers.

In 2020 there was the home defeat to Oldham and that God-awful game at Leyton Orient, not to mention Cambridge United, Billy Crellin and all that.

Twelve months on there was the 4-0 against Wigan Athletic and that rain-soaked night at Plymouth Argyle which accounted for the quick departure of club captain Antoni Sarcevic.

Miserable times. And this squad looks well capable of avoiding such pitfalls. Those months did not define the season in which they fell – but they cost the club crucial ground, particularly last year when it marked the start of a serious slide.

October pits the Whites against Lincoln City, Cheltenham Town, Forest Green, Barnsley, Leeds Under-21s – in the final Papa Johns group game - Accrington Stanley, Burton and Oxford United. With no disrespect to that list of teams, Wanderers will be expected to take points from most, if not all.

Playing twice a week for four weeks is going to put big demands on the squad, and it is likely that every player will be needed at some stage or another. And that is why we must hope that flat evening in Birkenhead remains a one-off.

 

Don't shoot the messenger!

SOME of the stranger criticism I have received online this week was in reporting an injury for Declan John after the Peterborough United game.

Ian Evatt explained on Saturday evening that the Welshman had a hamstring injury - but added that he did not know how long he would be out of action.

I put that in print. It tends to be what I do. And lo and behold, he turned up good as new on Tuesday in Tranmere!

Whether the Bolton boss was throwing a curve-ball the way of the local press, trying to confuse the opposition with his selection plans, or if Declan just made a rapid recovery, I'm not quite sure.

But some of the comments I have seen have seen on social media are laughable.

Talk about shooting the messenger!

 

Give the lad a break

BY all accounts, Conor Carty has a real eye for goal.

His finish at Tranmere was superb, reports from the B Team this season have been really encouraging and after speaking to him on Tuesday night he came across as a sensible young lad keen to keep his feet on the ground.

He also really needs to be given time to develop in the Central League without the clamour to have him fast-tracked to the first team right away.

We have seen too many young players rushed in recent years, and others who were given top billing before they had really earned it. In both cases, it wasn’t really fair.

Carty has a good pedigree, having come through the Wolves academy, and you’d have to trust that Ian Evatt and Co will push him when ready.