ONE young fan raised a laugh among the Wanderers squad this week as they toured Royal Bolton Hospital’s wards to dish out Christmas gifts.

“Would you like to come and see the players?” the little one was asked.

“No,” was the blunt reply. “I saw them on Saturday!”

The players took it all in good jest and handed out a present regardless. For those who watched the first half of last weekend’s game against Bristol Rovers, one might suggest it is ‘one down, and 19,000 to go.’

Just as it was realised that the performance at Portsmouth had lacked a certain amount of bite, so it has been acknowledged that the way they started the following game was way below standard. Knowing it is one thing, however, doing something about it is entirely different.

Wanderers had worked very hard to get themselves on to Portsmouth’s shoulder before their televised visit to Fratton Park, overcoming some of the stereotypes which have collected over the last few years about the type of team that cause them problems.

From the late goals at Wycombe and the steely show in Shrewsbury, to the impressive home win against Blackpool in front of a packed-out home crowd, the team had seemingly set about ticking off ‘Typical Bolton’ tropes to drag themselves back into the top two.

But something happened on the Solent – whether egos were damaged or confidences dashed – which ensured the team took a big backwards step, opening the door to all the old criticism once again.

That sense of self has always been an important facet in Evatt’s team. The manager talks regularly about treading the line between confidence and arrogance, and at times both he and his players test that boundary to its full. The style of football they have chosen to play demands a certain amount of bravado, taking of risks in possession, and if second thoughts begin to creep in, the results can be very damaging indeed.

As a club, Wanderers are unapologetically PR savvy. Who else in League One have commissioned their own in-house documentary, for example? Brand Bolton is strong, backed up by the commercial revenue the club will make this Christmas and the ticket sales which continue to be the strongest the Whites have ever managed at this level of football.

The football business is unique, however, in that it only takes a few bad results for the mood to shift. Goodwill is a finite resource and with tricky games at Lincoln City and Fleetwood Town next up, Evatt’s side can ill-afford to have another off day this side of Christmas.

The return of Josh Sheehan in midfield will surely be of comfort. The Welsh international did not have his most effective game at Pompey but his presence did feel missed against Bristol Rovers and nobody has looked more assured in the deep-lying ‘quarterback’ role in his absence.

Dion Charles may also have some extra motivation, having been sacrificed midway through the first half last time out because of Ricardo Santos’s red card. He still had a score to settle after the glaring miss at Fratton Park, where he managed just 15 other touches in the entire game.

Wanderers still need to prove to some folk that they can win games even when their goalscoring talisman is not firing. Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s return to prominence has been a welcome one, but the Icelander has not yet scored a league goal this season and his realistic alternative, Victor Adeboyejo, has netted once in his last 10.

Goals have been shared around the squad and no other club in the EFL can match the 19 different scorers that Bolton have had this season.

The last time Leyton Orient came to town was in the 2020/21 campaign, where Eoin Doyle netted in a 2-0 victory that propelled Evatt’s side to win 11 of their next 13 and move from 17th in League One to the fringes of the automatic promotion spots. It probably still stands as the most important sequence of results in Evatt’s time at Bolton, transforming what had been a poor season to that point.

There is nothing like the same amount of remedial work to be done here – but Pompey have now opened a nine-point gap at the top and some of the division’s other big guns, like Peterborough, Derby, Barnsley and Blackpool also seem to be finding their feet.

Wanderers continue to be the hot ticket this Christmas they will be backed by sell-out away ends at Lincoln and Fleetwood and another big crowd at home on Saturday. But the pressure is on them once again to find a result which can keep them on track for the top two.