A PAIR of defeats prompting a landslide of critical questions, a stabilising victory, a run of good form. Rinse. Repeat.

This season’s narrative has been rather formulaic when you think about it. Each time performance levels have dipped, and results have suffered, Ian Evatt and his players have found a way to regain some consistency and get folk back onside.

If the pattern continues, Wanderers will get a result against Cambridge United and by the time the final whistle blows at Barnsley on Tuesday night, the manager will be able to make light of the pressure he and his players had seemingly been under just a few days ago.

This is the manic environment of a promotion race at a club that demands to be playing football at a higher level. And it won’t change any time soon.

But one wonders how sustainable the continual ebb and flow of results can possibly be with just 12 games to go, and every promotion challenger still to play before the end of April?

The debate about big-game mentality and Bolton’s questionable record away from home against their direct rivals can wait for the build-up to Oakwell. Immediate focus will be on steering into the skid and regaining control after two emotionally draining defeats against Blackpool and Wigan Athletic.

Up to the start of February, Wanderers had positively thrived on picking apart their supposed faults. They had beaten Derby County at home in front of a big home crowd, found a consistent supply of goals after doubts were raised over the quality of their attack, found in Nathan Baxter a goalkeeper who matched James Trafford for reliability, and negotiated the tricky pitches and conditions of winter whilst keeping the points column ticking over nicely.

What amount to one wretched month later, Bolton must begin March with a fresh outlook. If they can finish top of a 12-game table between now and their final game at Peterborough on April 27, they will be playing Championship football next season.

More than 19,000 tickets have already gone for Saturday’s game against Cambridge United, a remarkable show of support considering the bruised egos and wounded pride that must be knocking around the town at present.

Confidence at Wanderers is bound to have suffered too, regardless of how well their performance at Wigan was viewed in-house, Evatt and his players will know a home support will expect more penetration and creativity than was offer at the DW Stadium.

Perhaps it is a good thing that this weekend’s opponents Cambridge are also nursing a hangover?

After manager Neil Harris walked out to join Millwall a matter of hours after Wanderers’ win at the Abbey Stadium on February 20, the U’s suffered a 1-0 defeat against county rivals Peterborough United and then another 40 miles down the road in Stevenage on Tuesday night.

For Martial Godo cupping his ear and running the length of the away stand, read Steve Evans doing a jig and fist-pumping after the final whistle. Football banter is alive and well.

Bolton’s stacked schedule in recent weeks has offered little time to Evatt and his coaching staff to make significant tactical alterations. Time on the training ground has often been limited to a single afternoon between fixtures and the Whites boss argues that this has been a factor in some of his newer signings making a slower than anticipated start to life at the club.

Coming up against Cambridge so quickly after Paris Maghoma and Carlos Mendes Gomes secured a 2-1 win at the Abbey Stadium should be a positive, in that their opponents are unlikely to have changed greatly in their approach under caretaker boss Barry Corr.

Direct promotion rivals may be lingering on the horizon but the U’s showed in their last meeting that a combative style which came with them from the League Two days has now been complemented by some solid technical players. Looking past them would be an unwise thing to do.

Evatt and his team have been here before. They have answered questions about their durability, their tactical flexibility even their bravery under pressure – and with a dozen games to go their promotion fate is still in their own hands, a situation they would surely have taken, if offered, back at the start of August.

There is no time for moping, no time to curse misfortune, and no better opponent to show they have learned a lesson, than Cambridge.