“WE’RE Bolton Wanderers, we love extra time!” – A tongue-in-cheek chant from the away end at Rotherham but one which has been fully endorsed by the dressing room.
Nobody in the top seven tiers of English football have scored more goals beyond the 90th minute than the Whites have this season.
Their 12 stoppage time strikes have caused a few hearts to flutter, some coarse language to be uttered in the car park by fans who sought an early cut and have probably added a few more grey hairs to the head of Steven Schumacher.
But if there is a positive to be taken from the way Wanderers are ending this season, it is that they do not know when they are beaten.
“I think even in terms of conditioning, we are all so fit, you can tell that against other teams when we are coming into the final 20 minutes,” said Max Conway, the young defender who has been enjoying a breakout campaign at the Toughsheet.
“You look at some of the teams and they are dead on their feet. And I think some of it is the way we play, we shift them around a lot – even if it is sideways and backwards, which I know people don’t always like, but it does have an impact.”
Conway, as another of Bolton’s regular chants goes, is “one of our own” and has been in the academy system since the age of seven. He recognises that not everyone has bought into the possession game but insists there is a rhyme and reason to the way the team builds an attack.
“We want to win more than anyone, including the fans,” he said.
“We really want promotion more than anything and we have just got to try and use our expertise to play the way we think is best.
“Hopefully (against Doncaster) we can come out quickly and get the business done early, get all three points.”
Conway came back into the starting line-up on Saturday at Rotherham after nearly a month of cameos from the bench, the most recent of which against Wycombe had propelled Bolton to one of their most impressive late salvos.
The youngster is now fit and firing again but believes the bench has also been an important factor in the 12-game unbeaten run, not least at the New York Stadium where Johnny Kenny, Cyrus Christie and Kyle Dempsey were especially influential in salvaging a point.
“I’m feeling good now,” he said. “I hurt my knee against Burton, I think it was, and I was out for about three weeks, but all's fine now.
“Of course, people want to start but there's no disappointment if you're coming on.
“You're coming on to help the team and to help the team win.
“There is so much quality in this squad. When you look over and look at the bench and see players coming on, it's like, yes, you've got a real chance of pulling this back.”
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