3 hours Ago
THE search for consistency starts on Saturday for Wanderers as Steven Schumacher looks to end a frustrating season on a positive note. Having taken some encouragement from the 1-1 draw at Peterborough United, the Bolton boss now wants to bring the curtain down with a win on home turf against Stevenage. Wanderers have lost three of their last four at the Toughsheet, failing to score on each occasion, as their play-off hopes faded quickly through late March and April.
Injuries remain a real concern – and though Josh Dacres-Cogley and George Johnston should be available, the Whites could still have 10 senior players missing this weekend. Schumacher is planning remedial work on the squad this summer and though he understands the disappointment at missing out on the top six, he has seen some signs over the last few months that the players he inherited can be more reliable next time around. “Any team that ever wants to be successful in this division has got to be consistent,” he told The Bolton News .
“You can't have your performance ever go too high, too low, because then you won't get the results that you want. “And since we have been in here, as I say, performances have been OK. Yes, we haven't got the results that we've wanted in the last 10 games, let's say.
But the performances themselves have been OK. “I can only think of two times where we were way off it. And two out of 10 isn't too bad.
“The problem has been that we have been punished because we haven’t been clinical enough in front of goal and we have made a few errors at the other end as well, which have then been punished. And that is what we’re trying to assess in the summer.” Wanderers have failed to score in 29 per cent of their games this season, and only six teams in League One – Northampton, Shrewsbury, Cambridge, Wigan Huddersfield and Wycombe - have drawn a blank as often at home.
Defensively, they have shipped 69 goals so far, keeping a clean sheet in just 20 per cent of their games – a record better than just four other clubs in the division – Mansfield, Cambridge, Peterborough, Barnsley and Shrewsbury. Schumacher intends to make that the kick-off point as he plans improvements in the transfer market for next season. “If we can get the firepower that we're going to need and really work on this team about the importance of defending as a unit, because they have shown they can do it, then you’ll get that consistency of results,” he said.
“They showed that at Wigan, they showed they can fight and compete and that they have that side to them, but to be successful in this division you have just got to bring it every week.” Nothing other than league placings are up for grabs on Saturday, with Wanderers currently sitting eight in the table. Blackpool and Huddersfield could theoretically jump above them if they were to beat Birmingham City or Leyton Orient, respectively, and the Whites were to lose against Stevenage.
Alex Revell’s side are 14th at present and could climb to 12th above Rotherham and Barnsley with the right sequence of results..
