Exclusive: Don Goodman identifies Bolton Wanderers "problem" for Steven Schumacher | OneFootball

Don Goodman has given his verdict on Bolton Wanderers' chances of reaching the play-offs in League One this season.

Pundit Don Goodman believes it could be tough for Bolton Wanderers to reach the play-offs in League One this season after back-to-back defeats against Rotherham United and Barnsley.

After an underwhelming first half of the season, Bolton parted company with long-serving manager Ian Evatt in January, and his replacement, Steven Schuumacher, made a strong start to life at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, winning five of his first seven league games.

However, the Trotters' form has declined significantly since then, and they have now lost five of their last seven matches after successive defeats against managerless duo Rotherham and Barnsley.

After being beaten 1-0 at home by the Millers in midweek, Bolton suffered a humiliating 4-1 loss against the Tykes, who had not won any of their previous seven games, at Oakwell on Saturday.

Jon Russell's strike and a double from Fabio Jalo gave Barnsley a three-goal advantage, and while Aaron Collins pulled a goal back for Wanderers in the 74th minute, it proved to be little more than a consolation as Russell soon added a fourth to seal a comprehensive victory for the hosts.

The Trotters dropped down to eighth in the table after their latest defeat, and they are now three points from the play-off places ahead of the visit of third-placed Wycombe Wanderers on Good Friday.

Don Goodman delivers Bolton Wanderers play-off verdict

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Goodman insisted that Bolton do still have a chance of reaching the play-offs this season, but he admitted that they have given themselves a mountain to climb in the remaining four games.

"It's been a huge blow for Bolton Wanderers to lose their last two games, particularly as Barnsley had been badly out of form and Rotherham had been struggling too," Goodman said.

"When you look at the numbers, the Rotherham one was a bit of a mugging, they missed so many big chances, it was unbelievable.

"It looks to me that, although Barnsley had big chances at the weekend and were clinical, Bolton had big chances and missed most of them.

"That seems to be the problem, the goals seem to have dried up, but they are a good team with good players, and that can change at any time.

"It's about belief for them now, they've got four games to retrieve a four-point gap.

"They have Wycombe, who are fighting for automatic promotion, and then they've got Lincoln, Peterborough and Stevenage, none of whom have anything realistically to play for other than pride.

"I wouldn't write them off just yet, but they've made it really hard for themselves."

Steven Schumacher will be alarmed by poor Bolton Wanderers form

It looked as though Bolton were firmly on course to secure a play-off place after the excellent start to Schumacher's tenure, but their top six hopes are now hanging in the balance after a worrying decline in form.

The Trotters' performances have not been as bad as recent results have suggested, but as Goodman says, they have been incredibly wasteful in front of goal, and their defensive weaknesses have frequently been exposed.

The loss at Barnsley was Bolton's 16th league defeat of the season, which is simply not good enough given the quality of their squad, and Schumacher will now be aware of the size of the task he is facing at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

After the game against Wycombe on Friday, Wanderers have three games against mid-table teams with little left to play for, but the same could have been said about Rotherham and Barnsley, so Schumacher's men must not underestimate any of their remaining opponents.