Josh Dacres-Cogley says Wanderers must get “back into a rhythm” of winning at home as they prepare to host Burton Albion.
The Whites have generally been formidable at the Toughsheet Community Stadium under Ian Evatt but have picked up five points from their opening five matches on home turf this season, including defeats against Exeter and Huddersfield.
Bolton came back from 2-0 down to claim a point against Shrewsbury in their last league outing, but there was still a sense of frustration not to take all three.
“I don’t think it means anything that (Burton) have not won yet,” insisted Dacres-Cogley, who has featured in every league match so far this term.
“We need to obviously perform to the best of our abilities and do everything we can to stop them so that we can get the three points.
“It will be a tough test, they are on a losing streak so will want it more than anything. We want to get back into the rhythm of winning constantly at home.”
When asked if the slow start against Shrewsbury will affect their thinking, he replied: “Personally, that has already left my mind.
“Sometimes that happens in football. Obviously, we ideally don’t want it to happen to us but it is about how you react the next time you are out on the pitch.
“We have shown that we can do it so, regardless of if we go down in the first half, I believe that we have enough in this team to come back and win the game.”
Wanderers have picked up 10 out of a possible 12 points since their heavy defeat against Huddersfield last month and currently sit 14th in the table, with at least one game in hand on the sides immediately above them.
“I don’t think it has been as good as we expected, coming off the back of last year,” Dacres-Cogley admitted about their start overall.
“Obviously, there is still loads of time. We have seen in the games that we have started to get back to what we used to be and our free flowing football, so that is encouraging.
“We just want to bring that constantly in the next weeks, get back into a rhythm and pick up points.
“You can see there has been massive improvement (since Huddersfield). I think sometimes it takes something like that to spark something in the team.
“From that disappointment, how everyone felt, something needed to change and we have tried to show that in recent weeks. We just need to continue that now.”
Evatt will not be in the dugout against the Brewers this weekend as the Bolton boss serves the first of his three-game touchline ban.
“It is just another game of football regardless if the manager is on the sideline or not,” the pacey wing-back declared. “You might hear a few different messages but the staff will be doing that anyway.
“It is just about cracking on with the game and we know what we need to do, how we need to play and how to solve stuff on the pitch.
“(The break) has been good to get some rest for the lads who have been playing a lot of minutes, and I think we are ready to kick on again now.”
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