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Momentum has been the watchword in the Wanderers camp since they toppled Fleetwood and showed their rehabilitation in League One continues apace.
Jake Wright remembers the last time Bolton were on such a role, he was playing in the red and white stripes of Sheffield United as they jostled for position at the top of the table with Phil Parkinson’s men three years ago.
That campaign proved a pivotal one for the Blades, who with a very similar squad managed to leapfrog the Championship and move on to Premier League luxury.
For Wright, the blueprint for success in his time on loan at Wanderers follows a similar pattern: Win games, move on, repeat.
Keith Hill summed up the camp’s mechanical attitude, knocking back suggestion yesterday that FA Cup week was in some way different to the ones that preceded it. “It’s a training week, a hard-work week, and nothing more,” he said.
But while there is always a touch of magic in the air for fans on FA Cup first round day itself, Wright and the Bolton players cannot afford to get caught up in the romance.
“You can almost ignore who you are up against, the focus is the most important thing right now,” he said. “We want to keep the momentum going after winning three on the bounce, not matter if it’s league or cup.
“We could have phoned a performance in against Manchester City, rested people and said it was a free game, but we knew a win there would keep things going.
“I see this game as exactly the same. We want to make it four against Plymouth.
“We won’t have done that since the club was promoted in League One and I was at Sheffield United.
“We’ve had all sorts of negative stats thrown at us but the lads have just got on with it. We haven’t let the situation affect us and just kept going. It has been great credit to the staff for continually getting a team out there.”
Wright went the whole of the 2016/17 unbeaten for the Blades, and was not in Wilder’s side when they exited the FA Cup at Bolton in the second round.
His presence, along with that of midfielder Paul Coutts who was wearing Fleetwood colours last weekend, turned a dreadful start to the season into something special.
“We lost our first four games and then went about 15 games unbeaten,” he recalled.
“I’m not saying we do exactly that – but it just shows you what momentum does. We want to get in positive numbers as quickly as possible and then go from there.
“It’s a strong group and they stuck together when over the first few games we were losing, injuries were happening left, right and centre.
“The manager properly stuck with us and the boys looked at each other and said ‘whatever happens now, we have to get to the point where we are going for 90 minutes.’ “That’s what is happening now. We are getting there. And when you have been through the hard times the good ones feel better.”
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Jake Wright remembers the last time Bolton were on such a role, he was playing in the red and white stripes of Sheffield United as they jostled for position at the top of the table with Phil Parkinson’s men three years ago.
That campaign proved a pivotal one for the Blades, who with a very similar squad managed to leapfrog the Championship and move on to Premier League luxury.
For Wright, the blueprint for success in his time on loan at Wanderers follows a similar pattern: Win games, move on, repeat.
Keith Hill summed up the camp’s mechanical attitude, knocking back suggestion yesterday that FA Cup week was in some way different to the ones that preceded it. “It’s a training week, a hard-work week, and nothing more,” he said.
But while there is always a touch of magic in the air for fans on FA Cup first round day itself, Wright and the Bolton players cannot afford to get caught up in the romance.
“You can almost ignore who you are up against, the focus is the most important thing right now,” he said. “We want to keep the momentum going after winning three on the bounce, not matter if it’s league or cup.
“We could have phoned a performance in against Manchester City, rested people and said it was a free game, but we knew a win there would keep things going.
“I see this game as exactly the same. We want to make it four against Plymouth.
“We won’t have done that since the club was promoted in League One and I was at Sheffield United.
“We’ve had all sorts of negative stats thrown at us but the lads have just got on with it. We haven’t let the situation affect us and just kept going. It has been great credit to the staff for continually getting a team out there.”
Wright went the whole of the 2016/17 unbeaten for the Blades, and was not in Wilder’s side when they exited the FA Cup at Bolton in the second round.
His presence, along with that of midfielder Paul Coutts who was wearing Fleetwood colours last weekend, turned a dreadful start to the season into something special.
“We lost our first four games and then went about 15 games unbeaten,” he recalled.
“I’m not saying we do exactly that – but it just shows you what momentum does. We want to get in positive numbers as quickly as possible and then go from there.
“It’s a strong group and they stuck together when over the first few games we were losing, injuries were happening left, right and centre.
“The manager properly stuck with us and the boys looked at each other and said ‘whatever happens now, we have to get to the point where we are going for 90 minutes.’ “That’s what is happening now. We are getting there. And when you have been through the hard times the good ones feel better.”
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