Bolton Wanderers Boss Revealed That “Thrilling Winning Against The Blues Ignited His Squad,” But That Is Not What He… 

Bolton Wanderers boss aims to build on Birmingham victory

STEVEN Schumacher does not foresee any issues with refocusing his squad after Tuesday’s night’s thrilling win against Birmingham City.

The Whites go to Burton Albion on Saturday seeking once again to climb into the play-off positions after many weeks on sitting on the cusp.

Praised for a lung-bursting performance against the league leaders, Bolton will have to deal with the physical toll of their efforts.

Will Forrester is expected to re-join full training by the end of the week after a minor hamstring issue and may also welcome Gethin Jones back after bruised ribs but the club has now confirmed Victor Adeboyejo is out for the season with an anterior crucial ligament injury.

Schumacher has faith, however, that his players will be able to switch their attentions quickly to a completely different type of challenge against a team currently sitting 21st in the table.

“Everyone enjoyed the result (against Birmingham) but I honestly don’t think it’s the type of group that will get overly carried away,” he told The Bolton News.

“Even in the dressing room everyone was nice and quiet, just talking about what was good, what we needed to do.

“We said to the lads that recovery is really important now because we have to be ready to go again and Burton have been in some good form recently. We will have to hit the same sort of standard to go there and get a result.

“But I’ll enjoy watching the game back, definitely more than I did the Wrexham one, and we’ll look at the type of player we’ll need for Saturday.

“We know that using the whole squad will be important. Every single game requires something different, so whether you’re in the side or not, you know there will be opportunities.”

Chris Forino was not selected in the squad for the goalless draw at Wrexham on Saturday but came back with a powerful performance against Birmingham, as did Carlos Mendes Gomes, who started his first game for Bolton since last February.

Schumacher also had words of encouragement for Joel Randall, the January signing from Peterborough United, who has also impacted the last two games from the bench.

“He is doing really well for us,” said the Bolton boss. “I spoke to him yesterday about how I thought he played well on Saturday when he came on, he got us into the game, showed some composure.

“I told him he wouldn’t be starting (against Birmingham) but not to panic because when the game stretches out and opens up, having a player like him, who has got that little bit of ability to pick the right pass out, is really important.

“He came on, got another assist, and it was a great finish from Aaron Collins.”

Confidence in the dressing room is high having taken four points from their last two games against the teams placed first and third in the table. Belief among the fans is also starting to rise that Wanderers have timed their best run of form this season perfectly.

“There’s a long way to go still but I think you can see the confidence and when you get that it can give the players an extra five or 10 per cent,” Schumacher said.

“We’ve kept up that little bit of momentum in the league, but we have to keep moving forward. Saturday becomes a massive game now for all of us.”