Bolton Wanderers have left themselves too much to do in their hopes of reaching the play-offs this season despite their late winner against Crewe Alexandra.
That's the verdict of former QPR and Nottingham Forest forward Jamie Mackie.
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.
READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt on Crewe Alex win, Amadou Bakayoko goal and play-off hopes
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.
Wanderers now have a gap of a fortnight until they are next in action and the first game when they return will be heading to the DW Stadium to take on Wigan Athletic.
In the same week, they will then go on to play Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday, two other sides who share aspirations of being in the top six by the end of April.
And speaking as a pundit on the EFL highlights show on Quest, Mackie feels that with the games they have coming up and the competitive nature of the race for the play-offs, Ian Evatt's side have given themselves too much to do in their race to make the top six.
The last five goals Bakayoko has scored for Wanderers, with the attacker the club's second top scorer this season behind Afolayan, have come in the last seven minutes of games.
And with the impact he has made, Mackie feels Bakayoko will be pushing for more regular starts for Wanderers towards the climax of the campaign.
He said: "I think Bolton have got Wigan, Pompey and Sheffield Wednesday coming up soon. I think that there's too many good teams above them. It's really competitive.
"I think they've probably left themselves a little bit too much to do.
"He's an impact player. He'll be happy with the fact that he's scoring goals and he'll be pushing for starts."
