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Only one thing could make the Bolton Wanderers experience better for Ricardo Santos – and that’s a few goals.
The defender has become a fan-favourite in the second half of this season for his commanding performances, and picked up February’s League Two player of the month award in recognition of his electric form.
But while seven clean sheets in 11 games keeps Santos convinced that Wanderers can make a dash for automatic promotion, he admits there is an aspect of his game he would dearly love to improve.
“If I could get goals, it would be perfect,” he told The Bolton News. “I talk to Baps (Alex Baptiste) about it all the time because I’m not getting anywhere near the ball.
“When I’m defending I find it’s easy to attack the ball, no danger, but when I’m attacking at a corner or a free-kick I need to time it better.
“We work on set pieces every Friday and we’re trying to get more goals for the centre-halves but it’s something I’d like to do for Bolton.
“At Barnet I think I scored nine goals, all headers from corners and crosses, the sort of ones I am trying to get here.
“Really and truly, though, I want clean sheets - so I guess if we carry on getting them then we can get to where we want to go, and I genuinely believe we can go up this season.”
Wanderers’ rise up the table has been accelerated by a condensed run of fixtures in February and March.
Having established a handy position on the coat-tails of the League Two leaders, Santos feels a return to weekend-only matchdays has come at a perfect time.
“It has been crazy,” he said. “I don’t think I have ever had a spell of games like it but to be honest, when you are winning you don’t mind when it’s Saturday-Tuesday every week.
“I spoke to the Gaffer earlier, though, and he could tell in the second half at Port Vale that some of the lads were tiring. I think the little break in games has come at a good time for us now, it gives us chance to have a little bit of rest and go into more games at 100 per cent.
“We have played on some horrible pitches, the one on Saturday looked alright but it was really bumpy in the end and heavy to run on. And it was really windy too.
“You probably don’t realise how much it has taken out of you at the time until you watch a game back.”
Walsall visit the UniBol this weekend - a game Santos is eager to win in order to erase the memory of a difficult December day in the Midlands.
“That was a bad day,” he said of the 2-1 defeat to the Saddlers before Christmas. “The lad who scored their winner, the ball bounced off his back. It was a bad game.
“They are quite good on their ground, it suits the way they play, but I think when we are at home it should suit us. We’re confident we can get the win.”
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The defender has become a fan-favourite in the second half of this season for his commanding performances, and picked up February’s League Two player of the month award in recognition of his electric form.
But while seven clean sheets in 11 games keeps Santos convinced that Wanderers can make a dash for automatic promotion, he admits there is an aspect of his game he would dearly love to improve.
“If I could get goals, it would be perfect,” he told The Bolton News. “I talk to Baps (Alex Baptiste) about it all the time because I’m not getting anywhere near the ball.
“When I’m defending I find it’s easy to attack the ball, no danger, but when I’m attacking at a corner or a free-kick I need to time it better.
“We work on set pieces every Friday and we’re trying to get more goals for the centre-halves but it’s something I’d like to do for Bolton.
“At Barnet I think I scored nine goals, all headers from corners and crosses, the sort of ones I am trying to get here.
“Really and truly, though, I want clean sheets - so I guess if we carry on getting them then we can get to where we want to go, and I genuinely believe we can go up this season.”
Wanderers’ rise up the table has been accelerated by a condensed run of fixtures in February and March.
Having established a handy position on the coat-tails of the League Two leaders, Santos feels a return to weekend-only matchdays has come at a perfect time.
“It has been crazy,” he said. “I don’t think I have ever had a spell of games like it but to be honest, when you are winning you don’t mind when it’s Saturday-Tuesday every week.
“I spoke to the Gaffer earlier, though, and he could tell in the second half at Port Vale that some of the lads were tiring. I think the little break in games has come at a good time for us now, it gives us chance to have a little bit of rest and go into more games at 100 per cent.
“We have played on some horrible pitches, the one on Saturday looked alright but it was really bumpy in the end and heavy to run on. And it was really windy too.
“You probably don’t realise how much it has taken out of you at the time until you watch a game back.”
Walsall visit the UniBol this weekend - a game Santos is eager to win in order to erase the memory of a difficult December day in the Midlands.
“That was a bad day,” he said of the 2-1 defeat to the Saddlers before Christmas. “The lad who scored their winner, the ball bounced off his back. It was a bad game.
“They are quite good on their ground, it suits the way they play, but I think when we are at home it should suit us. We’re confident we can get the win.”
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