Following on from a difficult September, the month of October was certainly a more fruitful one for all of us here at Bolton Wanderers with the team managing to remain unbeaten throughout their four league fixtures.
In those games, we came up against opponents of very high quality, something that is commonplace in the Sky Bet Championship nowadays, and the players have undoubtedly risen to the challenge after a testing start to the campaign.
Our resurgence is well and truly underway however and although we have been left disappointed not to have taken maximum points from our last three games having found ourselves in winning positions, the progression from the team is clear to see and their confidence is visibly growing with each passing match.
Last time out at Macron Stadium, we were all left disheartened at the final whistle against Queens Park Rangers that we hadn’t been able to make it back-to-back victories following on from our win over Sheffield Wednesday the week previous.
That simply shows however how our fortunes have turned around and the players certainly didn’t let that affect them as they made the trip down to the capital to face Fulham last weekend.
I am sure everybody associated with the club, whether they were at Craven Cottage or not, can say that the players gave absolutely everything in that particular game to defend their lead and in the end, it took a very, very late equaliser to deny the team victory – one which nobody would have begrudged them had we gotten it either.
Moving onto Tuesday meanwhile and it was another long journey for everybody up to Sunderland for a game which certainly lived up to being labelled as a Halloween thriller following the final whistle.
Sunderland themselves have struggled to adapt to life back in the Sky Bet Championship following their relegation, but have talent in abundance in their ranks and that was clear to see throughout the game. It was a shame to see Simon Grayson lose his job shortly afterwards, but he is a very good manager and I am sure he will return to the game in another position very soon.
Although come the final whistle the spoils had been shared, it was another match where we could take positives from the game as a whole, particularly in regards to how lethal we looked as a unit when attacking.
Sammy Ameobi has also proven his importance in recent weeks with three vital goals, while Josh Vela’s inclusion in the past few matchday line-ups has been wholly welcomed with his ability and impact clear to see, particularly from an attacking perspective where his creativity has been prominent.
As I have already mentioned in previous notes also, Karl Henry has continued to be a crucial figure for us and he only reiterated that with his first goal for the club on Tuesday evening.
Looking towards this weekend’s game meanwhile, it is imperative that we continue our unbeaten run of late with our next league game not being for 13 days due to the upcoming international break.
It is absolutely crucial that we make our upsurge in form count in front of our home fans who have shown incredible patience and loyalty following our challenging start.
Norwich are certainly formidable opponents with them sitting just outside of the play-off positions at present, but as l have previously stated, consistency brings success and this is something we are beginning to achieve and must continue to focus on.
We also need to be able to close games out when we go in front as we have done in our last three matches - something that we were very good at last season - and we need to replicate that this season to ensure we take maximum points from our games and climb the league.
I have every faith in the manager and his players however that this will happen as our confidence grows week-on-week.
Away from the field, we will be announcing details over the coming weeks regarding a Festive Bundle ticket deal in December, and half season tickets for the final 11 home games of the campaign.
I encourage you all to take advantage of these cost effective deals to commit your support for the team over a crucial period and continue to be the twelfth man that you have been both here at Macron Stadium and on our travels so far this term.
If we get a victory this weekend and other results go our way, we will move off the bottom of the table and be ever closer to getting out of the drop zone altogether.
Please get down to Macron Stadium and bring your friends and family with you so we can all get behind the players and spur them on to get the three points.
As usual, let’s be loud, let’s be proud and let’s get behind the team.
Kind regards,
Ken