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Ian Evatt felt some of the football Wanderers played in victory against Cambridge United was as good as it has been all season.
Goals from Amadou Bakayoko and Dapo Afolayan sealed a comfortable win for Wanderers, who now move into 11th spot in League One.
A fourth straight victory could have been even more comprehensive, had the Whites turned their dominance in the first 45 minutes into goals.
“First half that is as good as we have been for a long, long time, apart for the goals,” Evatt said. “Marlon (Fossey) could have had three or four himself and Dion (Charles) missed a couple of chances but the football was excellent, the way we moved the ball with speed and ran in behind them stretched the game and they struggled to cope.
“Fortunately we got the goal before half time and it settled us down a bit.
“We made things more difficult in the second half but there were moments of quality – Dapo’s second goal, then Jon and Sads came on to show what they can do.
“With Kyle (Dempsey) and Kieran (Lee) available on Saturday we will have a few headaches, but bring them on, I have got plenty of Paracetamol.”
Even though Cambridge hit the woodwork in the first half, Wanderers had enough chances to be much further than one goal ahead by the break.
Things were not quite as fluent in the second 45 minutes, and Evatt says his team should be able to improve on that performance as they prepare to face Morecambe this weekend.
“I still think there is loads more to come, four clean sheets and four victories, but there are loads of things we can tighten up on,” he said.
“I think we have to be more ruthless first half, and in the second we made the game more transitional. We needed more control but we were still trying to score when the game was already won.
“Some of our organisation from wide free kicks wasn’t great or pleasing but I am nit-picking, it is a good win.”
Wanderers played four of their January signings from the start and also brought on Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Kieran Sadlier in the second half.
But Evatt says there have been other factors in the team’s rapid improvement in January.
“We have had senior players back who have made a big difference, Gethin in particular, we really missed him as a player and a leader,” he said.
“We have brought in some real quality, some speed and energy, and all of a sudden we look a really good team again. But we have been in this game long enough to know things can change quickly. We have gone from a painful time to a painful time.
“I have to credit the fans too because going from Saturday could have been difficult for the players to get going again but the atmosphere they created was fantastic and you can really start to feel that connection again between the players and the fans. Rico and Geth doing the Icelandic thing towards the end, is just great.
“This place can be a real fortress when the fans are like that and the players play like that.”
James Trafford also became the first Bolton keeper in history to keep clean sheets in his first four games.
“James will have that record but it is a team record,” Evatt said. “We have a responsibility to defend and attack, back to front. All the players are involved at all times in this philosophy and have to stay active.
“It is a team record but, of course, I am really happy for James.”
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