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After Plan B worked perfectly at Bristol Rovers in midweek – Keith Hill feels his side is closer to finding the consistency Wanderers fans crave in League One.
Injuries have provided a constant distraction for the Bolton boss in a slender squad but as his side travel to Lincoln City this afternoon, he has the luxury of naming an unchanged team, if needed.
Dennis Politic could be brought back into the starting line-up after illness but no further fitness problems had been reported by the time the team boarded the team coach yesterday afternoon.
Hill has been juggling meagre resources for several weeks but now feels he is making progress again.
“Your mental state as a manager is always jigsaw mode,” he told The Bolton News. “It doesn’t matter about results, it’s the injuries that play such a major part in modern football.
“I don’t want to rely too heavily on ‘the kids’ but that was where we found ourselves going into the game against Rochdale. Going into the Blackpool game I’d felt the building blocks were in place, the spine was right, now we can hit the three-point targets.
“But injuries took that away, we had to take a step back. We assessed and evaluated going into Bristol Rovers considering the injuries we’ve got – Thibaud Verlinden, Liam Bridcutt, Jack Hobbs, Jake Wright in particular. Men for what is a man’s task.
“We’re having to build new partnerships all over the pitch, mix experience and youth, and it’s that jigsaw again – injuries, availability, suspensions – the pieces change but it’s always a puzzle for a manager. We’re enjoying it but the journey has just started.
Wanderers are also developing a sharper attacking edge, scoring two goals away from home for the first time since April 2017 in Bristol on Tuesday night.
“If you take away the Rotherham game we’ve created enough chances to win football matches,” Hill said. “Statistically, shots on target was similar to Rochdale or Oxford but we looked easier on the eye.”
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Injuries have provided a constant distraction for the Bolton boss in a slender squad but as his side travel to Lincoln City this afternoon, he has the luxury of naming an unchanged team, if needed.
Dennis Politic could be brought back into the starting line-up after illness but no further fitness problems had been reported by the time the team boarded the team coach yesterday afternoon.
Hill has been juggling meagre resources for several weeks but now feels he is making progress again.
“Your mental state as a manager is always jigsaw mode,” he told The Bolton News. “It doesn’t matter about results, it’s the injuries that play such a major part in modern football.
“I don’t want to rely too heavily on ‘the kids’ but that was where we found ourselves going into the game against Rochdale. Going into the Blackpool game I’d felt the building blocks were in place, the spine was right, now we can hit the three-point targets.
“But injuries took that away, we had to take a step back. We assessed and evaluated going into Bristol Rovers considering the injuries we’ve got – Thibaud Verlinden, Liam Bridcutt, Jack Hobbs, Jake Wright in particular. Men for what is a man’s task.
“We’re having to build new partnerships all over the pitch, mix experience and youth, and it’s that jigsaw again – injuries, availability, suspensions – the pieces change but it’s always a puzzle for a manager. We’re enjoying it but the journey has just started.
Wanderers are also developing a sharper attacking edge, scoring two goals away from home for the first time since April 2017 in Bristol on Tuesday night.
“If you take away the Rotherham game we’ve created enough chances to win football matches,” Hill said. “Statistically, shots on target was similar to Rochdale or Oxford but we looked easier on the eye.”
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