As odd as this may sound, Bolton Wanderers don’t lack ‘finishers’… they just lack finishers.

Though a 94th minute Dion Charles equaliser on Friday perhaps reduced the need for another full-on inquest into the Whites’ wastefulness in front of goal, it is little secret that their lack of clinical edge is making life more difficult than it should at this moment in time.

Of 19 shots against Bristol Rovers, five hit the target. Equally, Bristol Rovers keeper James Belshaw had a relatively straightforward night, considering the territorial advantage Wanderers had throughout the game.

Once again, Ian Evatt was able to find an answer from the bench. Charles’s impact was hardly immediate and he was complicit in Bolton’s bluntness for a good 30 minutes before picking his spot in a crowded penalty area to rescue a point.

In the modern sense of the word, Wanderers do have ‘finishers’ in that they have a fair selection of players who seem to perform best when entering the action late on as a substitute, but who flounder when asked to start games.

Amadou Bakayoko has fulfilled the ‘finisher’ role for Wanderers, virtually since day one. Six of his last eight goals for the club have been as a replacement whereas his record when starting games is quite sparse.

The player who has been saddled with that tag this season has been Kieran Sadlier.

While many fans point to his fine record in cup games – four goals from six starts – as a reason why he should command a position in Evatt’s regular XI, the reality is that he is being used for a very specific role.

Sadlier has been brought on, most often in place of a left-sided wing-back, when Evatt feels the opposition are pinned back and vulnerable. And his impact in late comebacks, such as the one at Fleetwood, is unmistakable.

Wanderers have not scored in a league game without Sadlier being on the pitch since the 3-2 win at Accrington on October 22. 

Why then, shout so many Bolton supporters, does he not get the chance to do that from the start?

The answer is most likely that Sadlier – a natural winger who has had to adapt to play wing-back – does not have the defensive discipline to last the distance. He is viewed more as the knockout punch in the latter rounds, rather than the bodywork in the first few. He is, The Finisher.

By comparison, Elias Kachunga’s skillset comes from the opposite end of the spectrum. The former Huddersfield Town man is routinely praised for his off-the-ball work, his ability to hold up the ball, the way he helps hunt down and win back possession. But it does not take a statistical genius to spot that he has not contributed enough goals to the cause, so his regular inclusion in the team against a player like Sadlier – whose goal return is also there in black and white – is a complex one to explain.

Kachunga has not completed 90 minutes this season. Indeed, the closest he came was at Fleetwood where his replacement, Josh Sheehan, came up with an assist for Dap Afolayan’s winning goal.

He is often the man sacrificed for the ‘finisher’ – and the depth of Bolton’s attacking options on the bench, even at the expense of a substitute goalkeeper, give Evatt plenty of flexibility to affect the game in the latter stages.

And let’s face it, the stats back-up the fact that Bolton score more goals than anyone else in the last 15 minutes.

Charles’s goal against Bristol Rovers was the 17th scored after the 76th minute this season in all competitions – a testament to the team’s character and fitness, for certain, but also a game that often showed Wanderers at their frustrating worst in front of goal.

“I’ve never known a spell where we’re having so many chances and so much dominance, so much final third position and we’re just not taking them,” Evatt shrugged after the 1-1 draw. “I just think that has to change. We’re doing so much work on it. I have so much faith in them all, and it has to change.”

Evatt is prone to the odd bombastic statement. His wholehearted, steadfast belief in his players and his footballing philosophy is, at times, admirable. And he is probably right, if Wanderers are going to maintain a challenge for promotion then something will have to change.

The big question is whether that will come organically, with Wanderers finally hitting a high-scoring run or registering a convincing score-line like the one against Sunderland last season, or whether the manager is going to have to rely on recruitment once again.

The January window has rescued Bolton two seasons in a row now. If they can get to the New Year in the top six then investing in the right signing – perhaps even the traditional ‘finisher’ – could be the difference between the play-offs for a challenge for automatic.

Back in the days of John McGinlay and Andy Walker, there was no ambiguity about the striker’s role, nor what would be expected of them in the scoring stakes.

Twenty goals was the established standard. But a Bolton player has not managed to achieve that for two decades. And to find a club willing to give up a striker capable of hitting that mark in January would be a long shot.

Dion Charles had managed it at Accrington and it was his uneasy contractual situation at the Crown Ground that enabled Bolton to nip in and sign him at a cut-price £320,000 nearly 12 months ago.

His goal return since then has been fair and it may be worth bearing in mind that having scored seven goals in 21 games this season, he is roughly on par with the six goals in 17 games he had scored that season for Stanley.

Indeed, Eoin Doyle – the last Bolton player to even threaten 20 goals – had eight in the bag by this stage of the year in 2020/21.

To paraphrase Ian Evatt, there is much to like about his team right now. No matter what significance you attach to statistics, it is a matter of fact that this group of players are keeping the ball as well as anyone else in League One, and doing so in the supposedly ‘dangerous’ areas of the pitch.

They do not produce as many shots on goal as some of their promotion rivals – although that number has been significantly improved in the last few weeks – but they do win the ball back in the opposition half as efficiently as anyone else around.

It is the lack of a finish, or finisher, that has been missing. And that statement has been obvious to everyone from the technical area to the top tier of the Nat Lofthouse stand.

Do Bolton have the financial wherewithal to change that in January?

Can Wanderers continue to mix, match, and milk every last bit of impact from their ‘finishers’ on the bench, and still find success?

Or are we just going to have to accept that this is a game no longer geared towards 11 players who start a game, and just as much about the five replacements who finish it?