STEPHEN Schumacher admits he may have to “shake things up” in the final four games of the season after Wanderers’ play-off hopes were dashed in defeat at Barnsley.
The Bolton boss was left frustrated by a disappointing display at Oakwell which left his side eighth in the table and three points behind sixth-placed Reading, who also boast a superior goal difference.
Schumacher also lost Aaron Morley and Jordi Osei-Tutu to injuries which look likely to rule them out for the rest of the campaign, with Alex Murphy and Josh Sheehan also picking up knocks in the 4-1 defeat.
A frustrated Schumacher said after the game: “We've lost four out of six - three of them we didn't deserve to lose. Two of them we managed to win, found a way, played well and grinded.
“This is the first time since I've been here that I've had to question the players. It's our first poor performance. But what I've just said to the lads, because the results have gone the way they have gone, it's three points now to make up, plus a goal difference.
“It's going to be a big turnaround, now, whatever we are playing for.
“We have to play better than that, but they need to show in the next four games what they are about because, if possible, we might need to shake things up a bit.”
Some feel Wanderers are gearing up for an overhaul in the next transfer window - but Schumacher does not have a lot of wiggle room with the size of his current squad.
Of the current first team squad listed with the EFL and goalkeepers with first team experience, Wanderers have five players out of contract in the summer – Ricardo Santos, Gethin Jones, Nathan Baxter, Luke Hutchinson and Joel Coleman.
Loanees Jay Matete, Alex Murphy and Kion Etete are due to return to their parent clubs, leaving 18 senior players still on the books plus homegrown players like Max Conway and Sonny Sharples-Ahmed, who have sampled first team football.
Schumacher had been largely pleased with the response he had from the squad since taking over from Ian Evatt in late January but admits the performance against Barnsley has set him back.
“I was shocked,” he said. “I didn't expect it.
“We spoke Thursday and Friday about what Barnsley were all about. Physically, we couldn't do a lot with the players because of the game on Tuesday and how much that took out of them. So, we had to go through video analysis.
“We spoke about Barnsley as good players. We said they've got good individuals, especially going forward. So, we've got to get pressure on the ball.
“When we have our opportunities to intercept, you have to counter-attack because they're the first team in five games that have passed the ball. We're playing the first team to actually pass it. So, you've got to go and get close to people and win tackles and then be able to break and make the most of it.
“But, as I say, we just didn't win a tackle. We didn't win a tackle, didn't win a second ball. Every time they played the ball in behind us, they looked a threat.
“So, we had to change shape after 10 minutes to try and nullify that. And then we had to make three changes after 35 minutes because of how poor we'd been.”
“None of the goals we conceded were good at all. Poor decision-making and just a lack of urgency, a lack of intensity. When you have bad days, they're really bad.
“And today was one of them. Injuries, concern and, yeah, an overall lack of performance. It just didn't look like a team where we are in the league. We were miles off it.”
