They say that nice guys finish last. And though there is no danger of that happening at Wanderers, there is some concern about their ability to stay in the top six.

October has not seen the best of Bolton by a long chalk. Reviewing the month as a whole, those breathless comeback victories against Burton and Accrington feel like frustrating outliers that masked over their traditional run of dodgy winter form.

On paper, the run of fixtures had looked appetising. But we go into November asking the same old questions about the Whites’ ability to handle the ‘dark arts’ of League One, and their success against teams who are unwilling to engage on pure footballing terms.

Furthermore, as Wanderers scramble around for consistency, some fundamental questions are being asked of Ian Evatt’s squad rotation policy – and whether it is over ambitious for a squad playing League One football. Are the most impactful players able to perform at their best without regular starts? Has dedication to ‘the system’ forced the manager to try square pegs in the proverbial round holes? And have some key men lost their form without losing their place in the side?

While the manager contemplates those decisions he can influence, it is also fair to ask whether his players need to do more.

Should this team be so consistently knocked out of its stride by any opposition which slows a game down, by fair means or foul?

Oxford’s gamesmanship was nowhere near as blatant nor prolonged as, say that of Barnsley, but it was plenty enough to see Saturday’s match follow a well-worn path. Bolton start brightly, don’t score, get frustrated – and in the last few games at least, fall behind.

So familiar was the U’s approach, Wanderers may want to check the motorway bridges on the M61 in case instructions have been spray painted for the team bus to read en route to the UniBol.

Wanderers are easily rattled but with the exception of Dapo Afolayan – dropped to the bench against Oxford – it is a rarity that one of their own players manages to conjure such a reaction.

Up until recently, Bolton could have taken the footballing moral high ground. Yet in truth, even their much-lauded expansive football has suffered in quality over the last few weeks.

It was certainly the case against Oxford in a game that was always going to be transitional. Evatt had swapped out his whole midfield in an effort to keep it fresh but MJ Williams, Kieran Lee and Josh Sheehan got lost in the battle, and Bolton’s unsatisfactory answer was to play direct towards Elias Kachunga and Dion Charles, neither of whom are built for the job.

Suspended for the game, Karl Robinson will have enjoyed the view from the directors’ box despite missing some of his best players and naming a right wing-back, Djavan Anderson, up front.

That was not the case for 17,000-or-so Bolton fans, who had been asked by Evatt to play their part in geeing up the players early on. The Wanderers boss sounded like he expected an emotional drain after the late heroics against Accrington – hence the widespread changes to the team – but they became harder to explain when such malaise spread across the whole side.

The visitors took the lead on 25 minutes, Anderson poking home from close range after a Kyle Joseph had wriggled free from Gethin Jones and pulled a cross back from the touchline.

Sheehan had a big chance to equalise, his close-range effort saved by the feet of Simon Eastwood, but eight minutes after half time Ciaron Brown shrugged off Conor Bradley to drill a shot into the bottom corner, leaving the stadium in almost total silence.

Dion Charles had waited nearly 14 hours for a goal from open play – his last coming against Crewe in the Papa Johns Trophy – and when it arrived 17 minutes from time there was a brief spell where another comeback looked on the cards, however undeserved.

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson swiped at fresh air from Jones’s cross and Charles just failed to turn in Aaron Morley’s dangerous cross inside a six-minute spell where the atmosphere did indeed crackle.

Steve Seddon then put a dampener on things, heading home from a corner with what might be the softest goal Bolton have conceded all season.

For six minutes Bolton looked like a side with the requisite passion to win the game, otherwise this was a team that looked like it was going through the motions.

Evatt called his team “naïve” – and it is hard to argue with that assessment. Bolton have built a team of very decent young men, all of whom are good footballers, but life in League One is not sweetness and light. This team will have to get its knees dirty this winter if it intends to stay in touch with the play-off positions.

The manager will get his share of the criticism but has been in tougher situations before during his two years at Bolton and found the right answer. One wonders whether it will again come in the January transfer window?

And with that in mind, as Wanderers’ players return to the training ground on Monday to start preparation for next weekend’s FA Cup game against Barnsley, perhaps some should shoot a glance in the mirror on the way out?