Wanderers held on stubbornly for victory at Oxford United to push their way into fifth spot in League One with five games to go. 

Dion Charles scored his 20th club goal of the campaign just seven minutes into the game – and Bolton were cruising for 30 minutes against a struggling side that had not won a game since January. 

But a moment of controversy, sparked when James Trafford bundled over Kyle Joseph on the edge of the penalty box, turned the game on its head – and it was Ian Evatt’s side who found themselves defending stoutly for the last hour. 

MJ Williams had to be drafted in as a centre-half after Luke Mbete withdrew from the squad with a knee injury which will keep him out for four weeks. 

Kieran Lee also picked up a knock, and Evatt made five changes to try and freshen up the team which had laboured against Cambridge United on Easter Monday. 

It had been a breeze for more than half an hour for Wanderers at the Kassam, with Charles’s goal putting them a goal to the good and Oxford’s defenders running scared each time they were pressed. 

But the mood altered completely when a long ball down the middle caught MJ Williams one-on-one with Kyle Joseph, prompting James Trafford to thunder off his line and clatter into the Oxford striker. 

Williams was in the vicinity, and Joseph may have angled slightly off centre, but there can be little argument that Trafford was fortunate to be awarded only a yellow card from referee Seb Stocksbridge. Suffice it to say, the home fans agreed. 

Suddenly, the psychology of the game changed. Bradley diverted a Cameron Branagan free kick over his own bar, Bolton had to batten down their penalty box under pressure that was simply unimaginable 15 minutes earlier. 

Bolton should have been further ahead. Dan Nlundulu lashed one angled shot over the bar, Aaron Morley and Gethin Jones wasted a couple of good positions on the either side of the penalty box, and Oxford had looked for so long completely bereft of ideas. 

The pattern continued into the second half with the home side missing some gilt-edged opportunities. 

Joseph poked wide from Sam Long’s low cross from the right, Trafford pushed away a stinging effort from Ciaran Brown and Marcus Browne screwed another excellent chance wide. 

Kyle Dempsey blasted over the bar in a rare venture forward for the Whites – but the vast majority of the second half was spent protecting the penalty box, something they did with admirable bravery. 

As the players walked off the pitch, news broke that Derby County had conceded late on at Bristol Rovers, which gives Bolton a handy two-point cushion in the play-offs, with a game in hand to play on Tuesday night at Burton Albion.