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Wanderers boss Ian Evatt insists his side would be higher in the League One table if it wasn’t for their bad injury luck.
The Whites sit 11th in the table, having taken 25 points from their opening 19 matches back in the third tier.
Evatt has been without the likes of Xavier Amaechi and Amadou Bakayoko in recent months and has now also lost Josh Sheehan, Gethin Jones, MJ Williams and Lloyd Isgrove among others.
The Bolton boss says there have been positive signs from the season so far but admits they are “not quite where we want to be”.
“There is a bit of frustration from me because I feel we’ve had a lot of rotten luck,” he said.
“I do feel that we would be competitive in the top 10 to eight to six if we had a fully fit squad all season, but we haven’t.
“The eight games we have lost, six of those have been to the to six. That’s the difference – in those moments and big games, we’ve needed everybody and we haven’t quite had them.
“Take the Wigan game out of it - if you look at the Sunderland game, the Sheffield Wednesday game, even the Rotherham game at home – we’ve played pretty well in those games and just not got anything to show for it.
“That is a good marker to where we are at – we’re doing okay but not quite where we want to be.”
Liam Gordon slotted in at right back on Tuesday night, while George Johnston played in a holding midfield role after coming off the bench.
Evatt was impressed with their performances and is hopeful the pair can continue to shine in the coming weeks.
He added: “I thought Liam was excellent on Tuesday, and when he is positive and he runs forward and uses his attributes, he’s a threat. I was pleased for him.
“I was pleased for George, he’s a player that has played that role for Wigan last season, so we’ll adapt and overcome as best we can.
“They’re by no means the finished article and when we signed them, we understand that there’s some growth still there to be had.
“George started the season really well, has had a bit of a dip and has come out of the team, but has worked really hard in training. His attitude is fantastic and he’s got another opportunity now to be back in the team and playing regular football.
“Same with Liam - he’s had to be patient, in and out really with Declan (John) and when he came in on Tuesday, he’s done himself no harm.
“But these young players need to back it up. They need to go again on Saturday.”
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