WHO knows how significant Aaron Collins’ winning goal against Blackpool will be in the long run for Wanderers – whether it will provide a genuine turning point in the season, or just be a brief moment of levity in the inconsistent grind.

Ian Evatt joked that his 100 previous league victories in the job could all be forgotten if the result isn’t right at Cambridge United, and that speaks something of the unpredictable and turbulent nature of the season to date.

Performances, like results, have tended to group at the poles for Bolton over the first 15 games, and on Saturday we were treated to both extremes within the course of 96 dramatic minutes.

Though it would be unwise to rush into contextualising the Blackpool win, or crowing about the Whites’ return to promotion contention, it did mark an important statistical change for the team which may also have a positive effect on its psyche.

Collins’ winner marked the first time in nine months that Wanderers had reclaimed a win in League One having conceded first.

Previously this season they had recovered just a single point from the six occasions they had gone behind to the opening goal of the game. And the last time they had managed to turn the outcome completely in their favour was, coincidentally, against Cambridge United at the Abbey Stadium in February.

The match itself had been rescheduled after a farcical rain-storm forced the cancellation of the original after only nine minutes. There was a sense at the time that Wanderers’ cup involvements and a number of other rearranged games had made their late-season schedule too difficult to manage; hindsight suggests that might have been the case.

Bolton rolled up their proverbial sleeves against Cambridge that night, however, and having gone behind to Eoin Toal’s early own goal they dominated the second half, with Paris Maghoma and Carlos Mendes Gomes completing a very pleasing comeback.

Psychology has been a hot topic in the Wanderers camp, particularly since their horror-show at Edgeley Park. And though some very serious questions have been asked about the team’s consistency, there is evidence to suggest they are coping better with some of their more traditional issues under Ian Evatt.

Though midweek trips to football’s less glamorous corners have been described by Evatt himself as “Kryptonite” in the past, Bolton’s recent results are encouraging. They have adapted their approach away from home and earned victories against Leyton Orient, Northampton, Crawley, Stevenage, often in a most ‘Un-Wanderers’ way.

Switching between the 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 systems has at least given Evatt options this season, even if the transition between the two has been somewhat clunky. At half time against Blackpool, for example, the decision to push Collins into attack and alter the balance of the remaining three midfield options, proved a real juncture in the match.

The switch has also been made in reverse, with success, and it seems highly likely that Evatt will keep toggling between the two in the future.

One of his chief issues at present is a lack of genuine ‘number eights’ – i.e. mobile midfield players who can go ‘box to box’.

With Kyle Dempsey out injured, George Thomason is the only obvious example, although Wanderers have also tried to crowbar McAtee into the role and also have Klaidi Lolos, Scott Arfield and the returning Carlos Mendes Gomes waiting in the wings.

An absence of true dynamism, Thomason aside, has promoted a few wistful glances towards Brentford, where Paris Maghoma has yet to play any meaningful football for the Premier League club since signing a new contract in August.

Others look towards Aaron Morley, who has found favour on loan at Wycombe Wanderers and helped them top the table a third of the way into the season. He could be recalled in January – but his preference is to play as a sitting midfielder, a role which allows him to use his extensive passing arsenal. Whether he can carry the ball or time his runs in the same way as Thomason or Dempsey is still up for debate.

For now, Evatt and Wanderers will hope the mix and match approach can continue to yield results on the road, and with another weekend’s rest to come there is another opportunity to go flat-out at Cambridge before recharging for the festive push.