Win, lose or draw, Jack Iredale won’t be checking his social media on the team bus on his way back from Cambridge United on Saturday evening.

Returning to the Abbey Stadium for the first time since his summer switch to Wanderers, the Australian defender is keen to restore some of the consistency which has been lacking in recent performances.

Iredale admitted his own performances had dipped in a message to Bolton fans a fortnight ago – but believes he is getting back to the type of form which helped him become a regular under Ian Evatt almost immediately.

Despite the Whites still sitting in a play-off spot with the division’s joint-best defensive record, the mood among supporters has been tetchy, not least since last weekend’s FA Cup exit against Barnsley.

Trying to absorb all the different opinions which will inevitably be swirling around after the final whistle would be a waste of time, says Iredale.

“If you want to ignore it, you can,” he told The Bolton News. “I personally don’t go on social media to find out if I have had a good or a bad game, I can probably tell what is being said without looking. I think it is important what we are getting told by the coaching staff is what we have to do on the pitch, that is the best way to go about it.

“You get told about it all the time in football – don’t get too high with the highs and low with the lows. You just have to reset, forget about the previous game, then hit the best level possible.

“When it is going bad you just have to trust yourself you can put it right.”

Iredale expected a culture shift when he agreed a three-year deal to move to Lancashire in May, and the opportunity to challenge for Championship football was one of the biggest factors in his decision.

“It has been very different but then Bolton is a massive club and the fans expect success,” he said. “When there is not that level of consistency, you are demanding that the team brings it.

“I knew coming in that it is a big club and that it was one that wants to get back to the top level, albeit in the right way with what is going on behind the scenes as well.

“I didn’t expect anything less from Bolton’s supporters. As a team we want to be winning games consistently but I think over time we have kept in touch with the boys at the top.”

Iredale appreciates the role Cambridge and their young manager, Mark Bonner, played in his own career – which may well have continued outside the UK had it not been for their offer in the summer of 2020.

“I hope that there was no hard feelings,” he said of his departure. “I had a really good two years there, I was in no man’s land after Covid. I was back home in Australia, didn’t have a contract, I’d left Carlisle, and then Cambridge came out of the blue and gave me that opportunity to get back to UK football.

“I was talking to clubs in Asia and Australia as well. I thought I was probably going to have to stay a bit closer to home, especially with what was going on. No-one knew what it was going to be like for football, but when the opportunity came up, my girlfriend is still over here as well and it was even more of a reason to get myself back over here and playing football.

“Now here I am and I’m thankful that I did.

“I’m looking forward to going down and seeing a lot of old friends and I’m looking forward to the game as well.”