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In times of need, it is often comforting to return to the tried and trusted, and that is why Gethin Jones’s return from injury could come at such a crucial juncture for Ian Evatt and Bolton Wanderers.
By the defender’s own admission, significant doubts were cast against the future of those who walked off the pitch at Wembley six months ago, in what amounted to the low point in most of their footballing careers.
For Jones, the play-off pain lasted longer than most. Injured at the pre-season training camp in Portugal, he suffered three abandoned comeback attempts on the training ground before finally returning to the pitch. Unfortunately for him, that happened to be at Stockport a fortnight ago, with his team already three goals down.
Though the former Everton man has not always found favour on the terraces, his record in a Bolton shirt compares favourably with anyone he has played alongside in the last four-and-a-half years. He holds a 56 per cent win rate as a starter with the Whites and has been a pillar in good times and bad during the Ian Evatt era.
So, with Bolton desperately in need of a response against Blackpool this afternoon, it is little surprise that the manager has reached for one of his most trusted lieutenants.
There is also a personal quest for Jones, one of several players so ruthlessly exposed by Oxford in the play-off final. He is determined to show doubters that he can not only command a starting spot in Evatt’s defence but also that he can push them over the line this time around.
“There was a lot said, rightly so, after the play-off final,” he told The Bolton News.
“It was disappointing for players, the whole club, the fans, we didn’t know what was going to happen until the season started.
“We had a big meeting out in Portugal but five days afterwards I got the injury and it set me back, meant I could only sit and watch.
“When we’d had the individual meetings with the gaffer three or four days after Wembley we’d basically agreed the only thing that could possibly make things right was to get automatic promotion this year.
“So, for me not to be able to take part, start a run, it was difficult to watch.
“I’m one of them, I’m more nervous watching than I am playing. It was really difficult.
“I have been injured before but because of the upset at the end of last season, it was so much harder this time.
“I want to be out there, I want to help the team, and I still think we can achieve what we set out to achieve.”
Jones’s 20 minutes on the pitch at Edgeley Park was not the comeback he had hoped for but he quickly made his influence known away from the supporters’ gaze.
When the ego-bruised players returned to the dressing room, it was he who asked Evatt and his coaching staff to leave. A much-needed inquest was about to begin.
“Me and George Johnston walked in and basically said we needed to sort this,” Jones said. “I said to the gaffer that we needed some time to have a chat between ourselves to find out what was going on.
“We’d had a good run of games in the league prior to Stockport but the standards dropped massively. I know not every player is going to be 10 out of 10 every game but for every single one of us to not be bang at it? It wasn’t acceptable.
“We needed the levels at training to be at their very best every single day and then when we got a few wins, not sit back and think everything is OK. I think that had happened a bit.
“It has happened before at clubs I have been at, where the lads take responsibility. We didn’t implement what we’d worked on prior to that game and we thought we needed to take that hit and the frustration from the fans.”
Scenes in the away end were as extreme as anything witnessed this season, with many of those who travelled staying behind after the final whistle to voice their anger.
“You can understand the disappointment,” Jones nodded. “We have talked about it between the manager and the players. It’s all about consistency, and we haven’t really had any this season.
“Once it clicks and we get a few games together then I think we will be fine but we know it has been too up and down so far, we haven’t got going yet.”
With George Thomason also poised to return to the team, Jones – still the club’s official vice-captain – believes Wanderers can rediscover the sort of winter form they showed 12 months ago to put themselves in contention for the top two.
“I have been here a good few years now and I feel responsibility, I feel like I should be one of the leaders here,” he said.
“Christmas is always an important time in the league, you get to know where every team should be, really. Sometimes if you don’t get it right there can be a big gap going into the New Year and it makes it really difficult.
“So, I feel like I can make a difference. I am sure we will push even harder now to get that consistency. We just have to stick together, we know the fans are brilliant with us, but it is time to give them something back.
“Listen, we have had to remind ourselves a bit of where we were before the Stockport game. I think against Peterborough we looked more like the team from last season, so we have to get back to that level and then stay there.
“You can’t let yourselves get too low, you just have to try and learn from mistakes.”
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