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Aaron Morley hopes to help Wanderers improve their FA Cup fortunes this weekend.
Beaten at the first round stage in each of the last four seasons, four-time winners Bolton have recently found their cup feeling half-empty.
But after three straight league wins, confidence is coursing through Ian Evatt’s dressing room and Morley says this season’s opening opponents Solihull Moors, of the National League, will not be under-estimated.
“We have to tackle it like a league game, prepare for them like we would anyone else in League One,” he told The Bolton News.
“We watch the videos, make our plan, treat it like any other Saturday and play our own game because it should be about what we do.
“They have had a good season so far, but we have to deal with them, get the ball down and play our football.
“If we turn it into a football match, we can pass anyone off the park and score goals.”
After being virtually ever-present in the second half of last season, Morley has been used more selectively by Evatt this term.
The 23-year-old playmaker hopes to have pushed his case for a start in the FA Cup with his performance at Charlton last weekend, alongside the late penalty he scored against Wycombe a few days earlier.
“I want to push on,” he said. “The gaffer has different teams for different opposition, I know that. I just need to make sure I am putting 100 per cent into training all the time and then when the chance comes, take it. In the last few games, I think I have done that.
“I am still pretty young, and I know I am still learning every day, from the manager, from team-mates, it is just putting that into practice out on the pitch. I think I am getting there.”
Drawing Solihull Moors at home lends Bolton an advantage that Morley is keen to seize but playing at the Toughsheet has not always been straightforward this season, particularly against sides who sit deep and seek to frustrate.
Patience, the midfielder reasoned, may be needed to crack Saturday’s visitors and book a place in the second round.
“Getting back home with all the fans again, off the back of three away wins, I am sure the place will be buzzing,” he said. “But on the times it does turn a bit you have to be able to put your head down and play through it, play our own game and get a result.
“We have talked about managing the game better, coming into the second half if we’re one or two up, not letting the other side have a sniff.
“Last year I think we were the top team in all four divisions for scoring late goals, it was a ridiculous amount between 80 and 90 minutes. And I hope we can get back to that.
“But putting games to bed early doors is great.”
Morley’s own FA Cup experiences have been rather underwhelming thus far.
He scored a penalty winner against non-league Boston for Rochdale in 2019 to book a third round game against Newcastle United but did not feature in either of the subsequent ties.
He also netted a spectacular effort against Plymouth a couple of years later, only for it to count for nothing.
“That was up there with one of the best goals I have scored,” he said. “Unfortunately, they scored with about five minutes to go from a corner and won the game 2-1.
“I don’t really have any big moments. I’ve played against teams that are top of the same league but nothing that has stood out. We haven’t really had any FA Cup results since I have been here but I’d like to change that.
“Getting through to the third round and being drawn against a Manchester United or Manchester City is everyone’s dream. Hopefully we can get there this season and see what we can do.”
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