Bolton Wanderers went into the international break on a high as they returned to winning ways with a late win on the road against Crewe Alexandra.
In a first half which was scrappy in windy conditions at Gresty Road and Bolton's best chance came through Kieran Sadlier's free-kick being saved, Wanderers improved after the break and Dapo Afolayan struck the post as the visitors looked more likely to score.
And that late goal came when Sadlier's free-kick came off the post and George Johnston crossed back into the box for Amadou Bakayoko to net his 11th goal of the season and reduce the deficit to the play-offs to nine points with seven games of their season left after the 1-0 victory in Cheshire.
READ MORE: 'Never looked like scoring' - Crewe Alex boss makes claim about Bolton Wanderers winning goal
The result leaves Wanderers remaining 11th in the League One table and nine points from the top six, with seven games left to go when they return from the international break at the start of April.
After the late drama in Cheshire, we analyse the positives for Wanderers after picking up three points on the road.
Ups
Successive clean sheets on the road
Keeping goals out at one end of the pitch is halfway towards the way to achieving success in football and Wanderers managed a clean sheet on the road.
And the lack of conceding a goal at Gresty Road meant that Wanderers have kept successive clean sheets away from home for the first time this campaign.
It has been a while coming but hopefully that can give Wanderers a huge boost when their next away day comes around - the small matter of Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium following the international break.
Grinding out a victory
Ian Evatt has previously referred to games like that Wanderers faced against Crewe as their Kryptonite - matches on poor playing surfaces and windy conditions where playing long is the order of the day and the tone of the encounter.
Two have been faced on the road in the form of the Railwaymen and Gillingham and both have ended with victories and three points.
Though the first half in particular will not live long in the memory in a football sense, Wanderers were able to find a way to win in tricky circumstances and their second half showing at Gresty Road was enough to earn them all three points.
Bakayoko goal exploits off the bench again
Bakayoko is now Bolton's second top scorer this season behind Afolayan with 11 goals in all competitions.
Seven of these have been in League One and, of this total, four have now come when Bakayoko has been introduced from the bench.
The striker may not be the biggest fan of the 'super sub' tag, but it is certainly a role that he is having a big impact where he comes off the bench to help make the difference towards the end of matches.
The attacker is now set to go away on international duty with Sierra Leone and Wanderers will hope he can return in one piece to contribute for seven cup finals in April.
Fans on form
Some 2,300 Wanderers supporters packed out two stands at Gresty Road and created an atmosphere throughout the day in Cheshire.
Being a relatively local game which is easy to travel to owing to the transport links, Wanderers fans could be heard a good few hours before kick-off from the areas outside the ground when no supporters were yet inside Crewe's stadium.
The travelling supporters were in magnificent form throughout and were jubliant when Bakayoko netted what proved to be the late winner, with several joining in celebrating with the players as the three points were secured.
Hopefully there can be more joyous scenes on the road for fans between now and the end of April.
Slim play-off hopes remain
The gap to the top six was 11 points at 3pm.
But by after 5pm and Bakayoko's late strike and results elsewhere, that deficit was now in single fixtures once again and now stands at nine points heading into the international break.
Some games will still take place next Saturday in League One for those games which have survived the round of call-ups, and that gap may have increased by the time Wanderers head to Wigan Athletic on Saturday, April 2.
But the late winner has kept the hopes of being in the top six just alive and Wanderers have a huge week of fixtures when they return to action which could define their season when they take on the Latics, Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday.
