Bolton Wanderers' struggles with consistency continued last night as they suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Fleetwood Town.

The Trotters would have been hoping to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to four games by picking up a positive result against the Cod Army.

However, Fleetwood managed to seal a comfortable victory thanks to a brace from Harrison Biggins and a strike from Gerard Gardner.

As a result of this setback, Bolton slipped to 16th in the League One standings.

Here, we have decided to take a look at THREE things we clearly learnt about Ian Evatt's side after their latest defeat in League One...

Ricardo Santos will be a big miss this weekend

Soccer Football - League Two - Crawley Town v Bolton Wanderers - The People's Pension Stadium, Crawley, Britain - May 8, 2021  Crawley Town's Ashley Nadesan in action with Bolton's Ricardo Almeida Santos Action Images/Matthew Childs EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications.  Please contact yo

A key player for Bolton, Ricardo Santos has only missed two league games this season but is now set to be sidelined after being sent-off in the second-half of yesterday's clash with Fleetwood.

With the Trotters set to face Accrington Stanley on Saturday, it will be intriguing to see who Evatt decides to turn to for inspiration in Santos' absence.

Alex Baptiste could be given the opportunity to impress at centre-back as Bolton look to deliver a response to their poor display.

Evatt needs to strengthen his squad in January

Soccer Football - League Two - Barnet vs Chesterfield - The Hive, London, Britain - May 5, 2018  Chesterfield manager Ian Evatt before the match   Action Images/Adam Holt  EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

When you consider that Evatt had to include several academy players in Bolton's match-day squad for last night's defeat, it is abundantly clear that he will need to bolster his squad in January.

Whilst the Trotters may not be in a position to splash the cash on signings, they may be able to draft in some promising individuals on loan in the upcoming window.

 

 

In order to have any chance of achieving a relative amount of success at this level next year, Bolton will need to nail their transfer recruitment next month.

Bolton's hopes of reaching the play-offs this season are hanging by a thread

After initially making an encouraging start to the 2021/22 campaign, Bolton have lost ground in the race for the play-offs in recent months.

Currently 10 points adrift of Plymouth Argyle who are sixth in the League One standings, the Trotters may need to settle for a season of consolidation if they are unable to step up to the mark in their upcoming fixtures.

However, by sealing a morale-boosting win over Accrington this weekend, Bolton may be able to use the confidence gained from this result to push on under the guidance of Evatt.