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Ricardo Santos believes Wanderers could blast a path to League Two promotion by remaining undefeated for the rest of the season.
Confidence is sky high in the Bolton camp as they extended an unbeaten run to 12 games with a 2-1 victory against Walsall.
The big defender, whose imperious form has been one of the main catalysts behind the rapid change in fortune at the UniBol, sees no reason why Ian Evatt’s men cannot keep the roll going in the final 10 games.
“It took time for us to click but we have finally done it now,” he said. “And at the right time as well.
“We are close to getting where we want to be, but we are also still far away – I think we have to keep going and I believe we can go to the end of the season undefeated.”
Wanderers are already on their longest unbeaten stretch since 2001 and if they avoid defeat at Forest Green would then be on their way to emulating the 15 games in league and cup that Colin Todd’s achieved at the start of the 1998/99 campaign.
Asked why he felt this side could do something similar, Santos added: “It is togetherness, belief, how everyone in the building is feeling. But also the quality of players we have.
“When we went 1-0 down against Walsall I still knew we had a chance because we could play so much better. We are dangerous. Walsall pressed in the first half but they can’t do that for the whole game, we knew they would tire by 60 minutes and then we could start picking them off.
“We are not going out there and being arrogant. We are undefeated in 12 games and we are on a mission to get promoted.
“Even if we don’t play well, whatever it takes to get three points.”
Wanderers did not have things all their own way against Walsall, falling behind in the first half before Kieran Lee’s equaliser and an Eoin Doyle penalty 10 minutes before the end wrapped up three points.
The visitors, who also had ex-Whites full-back Hayden White sent off, came with a plan to sit deep and hit on the counter. And Santos feels opposing sides are increasingly looking to stop Bolton playing, rather than imposing their own style on the game.
“We are the team to beat at the moment,” he said. “Teams are coming here to a nice stadium, working harder. We have to find a way and get past that first 15-20 minutes,” he said.
“It is hard. We were trying to figure out their formation. They were playing three forwards but it was difficult to deal with at first. “They got the goal but at least we had that second half to regroup and go again.”
Santos also felt shifting from a schedule of two games a week affected the early tempo of the game for Wanderers.
“It was tough,” he said. “This week was the first time we’d trained on a Thursday for about eight weeks. When you play a midweek game it is about recovery.
“It is harder to find the intensity and I think we started the game a bit slow. When you have Saturday-Tuesday you can keep the momentum going.
“It will be the same this week, so we will have learned from that now.”
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Confidence is sky high in the Bolton camp as they extended an unbeaten run to 12 games with a 2-1 victory against Walsall.
The big defender, whose imperious form has been one of the main catalysts behind the rapid change in fortune at the UniBol, sees no reason why Ian Evatt’s men cannot keep the roll going in the final 10 games.
“It took time for us to click but we have finally done it now,” he said. “And at the right time as well.
“We are close to getting where we want to be, but we are also still far away – I think we have to keep going and I believe we can go to the end of the season undefeated.”
Wanderers are already on their longest unbeaten stretch since 2001 and if they avoid defeat at Forest Green would then be on their way to emulating the 15 games in league and cup that Colin Todd’s achieved at the start of the 1998/99 campaign.
Asked why he felt this side could do something similar, Santos added: “It is togetherness, belief, how everyone in the building is feeling. But also the quality of players we have.
“When we went 1-0 down against Walsall I still knew we had a chance because we could play so much better. We are dangerous. Walsall pressed in the first half but they can’t do that for the whole game, we knew they would tire by 60 minutes and then we could start picking them off.
“We are not going out there and being arrogant. We are undefeated in 12 games and we are on a mission to get promoted.
“Even if we don’t play well, whatever it takes to get three points.”
Wanderers did not have things all their own way against Walsall, falling behind in the first half before Kieran Lee’s equaliser and an Eoin Doyle penalty 10 minutes before the end wrapped up three points.
The visitors, who also had ex-Whites full-back Hayden White sent off, came with a plan to sit deep and hit on the counter. And Santos feels opposing sides are increasingly looking to stop Bolton playing, rather than imposing their own style on the game.
“We are the team to beat at the moment,” he said. “Teams are coming here to a nice stadium, working harder. We have to find a way and get past that first 15-20 minutes,” he said.
“It is hard. We were trying to figure out their formation. They were playing three forwards but it was difficult to deal with at first. “They got the goal but at least we had that second half to regroup and go again.”
Santos also felt shifting from a schedule of two games a week affected the early tempo of the game for Wanderers.
“It was tough,” he said. “This week was the first time we’d trained on a Thursday for about eight weeks. When you play a midweek game it is about recovery.
“It is harder to find the intensity and I think we started the game a bit slow. When you have Saturday-Tuesday you can keep the momentum going.
“It will be the same this week, so we will have learned from that now.”
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