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James Trafford intends to move past a rare off-day and carry on a season of impressive numbers at Wanderers.
By his own admission, the England Under-21 keeper let his standards slip at Portsmouth in midweek in what proved a disappointing night all-round for the Whites.
Having set an extremely high bar with 17 clean sheets in League One - a total bettered only by Lawrence Vigouroux of Leyton Orient in all four divisions - Trafford is confident Fratton Park will be only a momentary bump in the road.
“You have to take the rough with the smooth sometimes,” he told The Bolton News. “The conditions were tough, the wind was heavy, especially in the second half and we were slipping a bit - but it is the same for both teams.
“It isn’t like we haven’t played on that type of pitch before, or pitches that are a lot worse. We just didn’t play too well.
“I look at my game, go through the clips. I speak to a few close people, and I wasn’t as good as I have been for the other 30-odd games we have had this season.
“Everyone has a dip and it is a bit unfortunate all of ours seemed to come on the same night. Experienced players, younger ones like me, Shola (Shoretire) and Con (Bradley), we just weren’t good enough.
“It was one of those things, you go back to the process and carry on Saturday.”
Single-mindedness is not a commodity Trafford lacks, and his ability to reset and re-focus was evident in the Papa Johns Trophy semi-final last month when a nasty collision with defender Liam Coyle left the Accrington Stanley man with facial fractures.
“From what I can remember the through ball came in and, in the moment, I decided to come and win the header,” Trafford recalled. “It was just a collision, like would happen anywhere on the pitch.
“It was one of those things where Coyley came off worse but I have messaged him since then and he is recovering well, so I am pleased with him.
“I was OK - I had a cut on my head and a bang on the calf from it. I’ve had collisions in games before and I know how it feels to come off worse in that situation, though, so I am glad he is doing better.
“I was lucky to come out on top, having won the ball.”
After Coyle left the pitch on a stretcher Trafford returned to his goal to be peppered with insults from the home fans, who felt he should have been sent off.
Keeping his focus and a clean sheet ensured Bolton booked their place at Wembley.
“I am the closest person to their main section of home fans, so they are always trying to talk to you but as long as you don’t let it affect you, or let them see that it affects you then you are fine,” he said.
“I was fine. I’d played there many times so it wasn’t a completely new ground or new experience. I coped with it alright.”
Trafford is likely to need those powers of concentration once again at Morecambe, where recent history suggests there will be an inhospitable atmosphere.
Ian Evatt has called on his players to do their talking on the pitch - and Trafford insists the mood within the squad has not suffered greatly after Tuesday’s defeat.
“Morecambe away is tough and if the weather isn’t great it makes it even harder,” he said. “We got a point there last season when we didn’t play too great, so we’ll give it our best shot to win.
“We had a meeting after the Portsmouth game, as we normally would do. Some of the lads trained, some were in the gym recovering, it was just the same.
“We are good mates off the pitch, so we were in good spirits as we usually are. We try to be as positive as we can.
“I wouldn’t say it was that different to when we got the back-to-back five-nils. It is just the same.”
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