The Inside Bolton Wanderers column by chief football writer Marc Iles

You couldn’t help but be impressed with the 5-1 win against a side that should be competing for promotion in League Two this season, and that the Bolton boss could make eight changes and still get that standard of performance is hugely encouraging in its own right.

But towards the end of the game, Wanderers were able to bring two debutants off the bench in a move of real significance for the future of the club.

Evatt had a nine-man sub’s bench at the start of the game and even after Jack Iredale’s half-time introduction had the choice of first teamers James Trafford, Amadou Bakayoko, Aaron Morley, Dapo Afolayan, Conor Bradley and Kyle Dempsey in the latter stages.

That the score-line made him comfortable in putting on two of the B Team squad – Lamine Toure and Nelson Khumbeni – was a very positive step.

Wanderers have taken a gamble this summer, introducing a team of relative strangers to supplement the first team, filling in a gap that should never have existed in the first place.

Re-establishing the development squad to the satisfaction of the Premier League’s EPPP plan would have been a hugely costly and competitive exercise. So, faith has been placed in Chris Markham and his team of recruitment analysts to eek out players who may have slipped the net elsewhere.

Toure is actually a bona fide product of the Bolton Wanderers academy, who lest we forget took their tally to 60 players who have graduated to first team football on Tuesday night.

While this B Team experiment has taken the headlines, we should not ignore the fact that the academy’s heart beats strong. Dave Gardiner, Julian Darby and Co will still be providing a steady stream of talented young players – just as they always have at Lostock – but a layer had been added in between.

The big unknown is whether the new level of recruits can make an impact at first team level, and the introduction of ex-Norwich City midfielder Khumbeni against Salford is a wonderfully promising sign.

We are slowly coming to recognise this influx of largely unfamiliar names, coached by Matt Craddock, and playing in non-league outposts like Atherton Colls, Bamber Bridge and Warrington over the summer.

There has been good feedback from the training ground, particularly on ex-Manchester United winger Connor Stanley, who had already sampled first team football during pre-season.

The B Team has also been a good classroom for Max Conway, Matt Tweedley, Luke Hutchinson, Adam Senior and Co to further their professional aspirations.

Let’s be honest, the whole team won’t get the opportunity. And football is a hugely competitive business at academy level, where the percentages still count against you.

But how great it is to see the Bolton fanbase invested in the journey. The B Team and youth team have set up their own social media accounts, giving themselves a separate identity.

It is also good to see that Bolton Wanderers Women have re-launched their Twitter account, which should give a better insight into how they are planning to move forward and grow as a club.

The whole B Team watched on from the stands in Tuesday night’s game, seeing Toure and Khumbeni get their chance. If that is not an incentive, then nothing is.

Booze idea was this?

THERE are deterrents and then there is sheer heavy-handedness, and I fear police in Staffordshire have over-compensated with their treatment of supporters heading for Port Vale this afternoon.

I can fully understand the need to be controlled with such a large number of people heading into a build-up and compact neighbourhood – and I also fully appreciate there have been problems with supporters’ behaviour which grants them no special privileges.

But to create a 10-mile exclusion zone around Vale Park seems a bit harsh. Indeed, it could even lead to bigger problems if people choose to loiter in public areas and entertain themselves before the game.

Surely it would have been a better idea to work with a couple of pubs – off the main Burslem town centre – and allow the coaches to bring in those who wanted a pint?

I hope sincerely that Bolton’s supporters behave themselves and that the day passes peacefully. Then perhaps they can come back up the M6 and raise a glass to three points!

Proper cup tie

IF you can’t get excited by the prospect of facing Premier League Aston Villa in the second round of the Carabao Cup later this month, then we can’t be friends.
It has been a while since we had a ‘proper’ cup tie at Wanderers - and the way Ian Evatt’s side are playing right now, who is to say they could not cause an upset?
I’m glad Sky Sports sensed the potential and agreed to televise the game - that will be a welcome bit of income - and I am even more encouraged to hear that Wanderers have kept with the same pricing structure they had against Salford City.

Ten pounds for adults and five for concessions is a great offer and I'd hope it will ensure a decent crowd in a competition where they are rare at this stage.

What a chance to show everyone in the country that Wanderers are heading back in the right direction? You know it makes sense!

Globe-Trotters

WANDERERS fans really do get everywhere - as I found out on a recent holiday to Mexico.
Not only did I bump into Danny Clarke, a coach at the academy, on the plane to Cancun, but was also tapped on the shoulder by another Bolton supporter as we were preparing to take off from Manchester.
“Hiya Marc, where are you heading?” he asked, perhaps not full appreciating that we were on a 500,000-pound vehicle heading for one destination, and unlikely to do drop-off requests.
I apologise to the fella in question for sarcastically replying “Los Angeles” - but, in my defence, I hadn’t had any coffee.
Also a shout-out to bartender, Rafael, for his impressive knowledge of the Whites which extended way beyond the fact that Jared Borgetti used to play for the club.