THE finishing line is in sight for Wanderers and, wouldn’t you know, that last mile is always the hardest.

After 43 games Ian Evatt’s side has been a model of consistency. Poor performances or results have not snowballed, clean sheets have been recorded with impressive efficiency and Injury setbacks absorbed by the squad in a way they had not been in the recent past.

This team looks primed to claim a top six spot and will guarantee one by taking five points from their remaining three matches against Accrington Stanley, Fleetwood Town and Bristol Rovers.

It all looks so simple on paper. Stanley are drowning in the relegation swamp and neither Scott Brown nor Joey Barton’s side have anything left to play for, much like Steve Cotterill’s injury-ravaged Shrewsbury when they came to the UniBol on Saturday afternoon.

But earning results under this sort of expectation and pressure is a skill in itself, and one Wanderers have shown they do possess since walking back down the steps with a trophy at Wembley last month.

Sure, they could make it easier on the thousands of loyal fans who have stood behind them on this white-knuckle tour of the EFL. Victory against Shrewsbury should have been placed beyond doubt 15 minutes into the second half, but then those same browbeaten followers will know full well that it isn’t the Bolton Wanderers way.

But there is something to be said for the Whites’ resilience, particularly in defence, and the way they have coped with absences that would have surely derailed their season had this all happened 12 months ago.

New heroes have emerged in the last few games. Josh Sheehan, whose nonchalant blast from the edge of the box ultimately earned Bolton three points against Shrewsbury, now looks back to the player he was before his knee injury.

MJ Williams – himself forced under the surgeon’s knife earlier this year – has also battled back to peak at exactly the right time, and as a central defender to boot.

And Kyle Dempsey, whose legal affairs off the pitch have weighed so heavily on his shoulders, has looked determined to make good on his promise to make 2023 a year of which he can be proud.

In the case of Sheehan and Williams, Bolton have two players who are out of contract in the summer and do not know for sure if they will still be with the club next season, promotion or not. Given those circumstances, their input over the post-Wembley run has been immense.

Conor Bradley and James Trafford will return to the luxury lifestyles of the Premier League this summer, both having enhanced their reputation with sterling service in their time on loan with Bolton. It says a great deal about both youngsters and their future in the game that their levels of concentration and effort remain so high, and that they clearly believe in the cause for which they are fighting.

Belief is the key word with three games to go. Even after such success this season, Ian Evatt is still working hard to convince at least a portion of the paying punters at the University of Bolton Stadium that his approach is the right one.

Football in the first half was more attrition than attraction. The Bolton boss was able to justify the methodical build-up after the final whistle as a way of ‘softening up’ Shrewsbury for the final kill. But he will be the first to admit that the wastefulness shown in front of goal at Burton and again in this case is not something he can afford to let continue.

Dion Charles and Victor Adeboyejo both got clean through on Marko Marosi’s goal, only for the Shrewsbury stopper to block their effort.

Charles, Dempsey and Bradley all hit the woodwork too, as the majority of the second half turned into some sort of overloaded training drill.

You have to feel for Cotterill’s team, who at one stage this season had threatened to be play-off contenders themselves. The squad simply has not been able to cope with suspensions and injuries which have stacked up, and while they remain an organised unit, they were a pale imitation of the side that beat Wanderers in December.

Bolton should have been more ruthless, of that there is no doubt. Sub Elias Kachunga was also denied by a brave save from Marosi – the game’s outstanding player – which made way for an oddly uncomfortable last 10 minutes.

Trafford’s 25th clean sheet in all competitions was never seriously tested, yet the Shropshire men gave their smattering of supporters some hope of an unlikely point with a succession of corners and long throws that had Bolton thinking back nervously to dropped points against Cambridge United and Burton.

Williams, Gethin Jones and George Johnston clubbed together once again to see out the danger – and given this defence will soon be boosted by the return of Eoin Toal and Ricardo Santos, there is much room for optimism that Bolton can follow Phil Parkinson’s class of 2016/17 and build this success from the back.

By the final whistle on Tuesday, the best-case scenario is that Wanderers will have a five-point advantage on seventh-placed Peterborough, with two games to play. That is the target they must focus on, for now.

Accrington will be playing on survival instinct and won’t sit back to preserve a point. A draw in their current situation is not especially useful.

Bolton have done the leg work and now just need to find their kick in the finishing straight. After that, who knows what might be in store?