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Ricardo Santos refused to be too downbeat after a stalemate against Barnsley, insisting: “The wins will come!”
The Wanderers skipper is justifiably pleased with the club’s solid defensive record, which has seen them concede just eight times in their opening 13 games – a record only Leyton Orient can match in the whole EFL.
But after 90 minutes in which Barnsley asked precious little of Santos and his fellow defenders, he admitted that the team does have to find a sharper attacking edge if they are to stay around the top six this season.
“We know we should have won that game,” he said. “I felt it was all us but there are positives to take from it, the wins will come.
“The gaffer said today we’d got the most final third entries we’d managed, so it is just that final bit that needs to improve. We have to stay positive. A week ago everyone was happy and we were scoring goals but this is football, it happens.
“We are not over-stressing or over-thinking about things, we’ll just go on.”
Barnsley’s disruptive approach to the game was very much by design, wing-back Tom Edwards later admitting the pre-game conversation had centred on “slowing it down as much as possible.”
Santos believes it had the desired effect, preventing Bolton from ever really getting into their rhythm.
“I felt they had a gameplan, players going down and stuff,” he said. “It was hard at times because we were trying to gain some momentum and then the game would stop again. But I enjoyed it, the boys were good, but the goal was all that was missing.”
Tasked with marking ex-Ipswich target man James Norwood, Santos enjoyed a solid afternoon. And the skipper later revealed he knew his opponent better than anyone realised.
“I have played against him a few times,” he said. “He’s a naughty one, likes to throw his arms around.
“I actually went on holiday with him in the summer, so I kind of know him. But he didn’t do much today.
“I don’t mind the players who run in behind. I do a lot of sprints, try to cover the boys a lot. But it is easier to play against someone who is trying to hold the ball up rather than running everywhere.”
Wanderers have relied heavily on Santos’s pace and ability to react quickly to counter attacks, often leaving him with little margin for error.
“The gaffer believes in me a lot and tells everyone, when we have possession, to leave me one on one. I take that as a good thing,” he said.
“There is a lot of pressure on it. I can’t make a mistake and if I do, they are through on goal.”
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