JANUARY has been a month of extremes for Wanderers, but Chris Forino believes they reach the ninth and final match of the month at Wimbledon with everything to play for.
From the lows of the post-Christmas dip in form and rumours of dressing room disquiet to the highs of late winners against Wigan, Leyton Orient and Burton, the last few weeks have reinforced the long-held belief in these parts that it is never dull in Bolton.
Promotion pressure is greater than ever on Steven Schumacher’s squad and the added noise of a winter transfer window has seemingly amplified every emotion.
Even this week’s positive results and run of 10 points from a possible 12 has proved divisive on the terraces, with fans making their frustrations known when they feel the performances have not been up to scratch.
Forino is used to the demands by now,.
“If you're at the top of the game, the highs will be higher and the lows will be lower,” he said. “Bolton is obviously a big club that finds itself in this position now. Everyone who has signed at this football club has been told what the objective is, and when you're signing for Bolton, there is no need to hide away from what that common goal is.
“I'm not going to sit here and say that it (promotion) is something we obsess about every single day, because then you trip over your first step. But there's still everything to play for.
“We had a sticky patch, and yet we're still in touching distance of the top two. We're still in a play-off position, which is a very strong position to be in.”
Wanderers had appeared to be closing in on the top two before Christmas but a spell of two points taken from a possible 12 either side of New Year’s Day left some serious questions being asked of Schumacher and his squad.
Forino feels the mood changed within the squad with the win at Wigan on January 17, as Josh Sheehan’s late strike sent 4,600 travelling fans into raptures, and signalled a much more encouraging run of results.
“It felt like a huge win at Wigan,” he said. “We needed to win. We were resilient and resolute, and it felt like there was only one team that was going to walk away with three points, which was obviously massive.
“It came at the right time - the big game at the perfect time - because we could right our wrongs very quickly.
“You can spend the whole season in the top six, and it can peter out at the wrong time. Sometimes staying intact and then seeing what other teams are made of in the run-in can be quite powerful.
“I think we're in a really, really good spot. The boys believe, and I think the fans need to believe as well, which I'm sure they do.
“I know they want to believe in us. They can give us so much more help on the pitch when you're supporting us through the good and the bad. I know it can be frustrating at times, but as I said, the dressing room has got a common goal, and the fans want the same goal, so we should really be in it together.”
Forino’s personal standing in the squad was improved over the summer by being included in Schumacher’s Leadership Group, along with fellow defenders Eoin Toal, as captain, and George Johnston.
He has also been drafted back into the starting line-up over the last couple of weeks after a change in formation, triggered by injuries to the likes of Marcus Forss and Amario Cozier-Duberry.
The move to a back three, or 3-4-2-1, has coincided with an upturn in form, but Forino insists an extra defender has not been a defensive move.
“Of course, going to a back three means I've got more chance of playing,” he said. “That's obviously good for me, and it gives you a bit more defensive security, but also, I think it gives you an extra body going forward.
“A lot of people look at a back three and say: ‘Oh, instead of two defenders, you've now got three.’ But in actual fact, it's to create more bodies in our favour in the opposition areas if you can play really attacking, really expansive, nice football in that system.”
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