17 recoveries, 6 interceptions – The Bolton Wanderers player who asserted his dominance v Crewe Alexandra

Bolton Wanderers may be big outsiders to gatecrash the League One play-off party, but on Saturday afternoon at the Mornflake Stadium they showed that they will not go down without a fight.

The Trotters left it incredibly late, but a 90th minute goal from Amadou Bakayoko secured all three points against Crewe Alexandra for Ian Evatt’s side and sent the travelling fans who packed into two stands home very happy.

That winning effort may have only left Bolton in 11th position in League One, but for the most part since the turn of the year there have been many positive performances and right now they only sit nine points off the play-off spots.

With a few teams between them and sixth-placed Sunderland though, it’s a tall order for Evatt to guide them into the top six this season, but he’s built a solid team at the University of Bolton Stadium and leading them at the back is Ricardo Santos.

The centre-back was a powerhouse in League Two last season when Wanderers were promoted at the first time of asking, and the 26-year-old is proving his worth to the club yet again with his recent showings.

Evatt recently labelled Santos as the not only the best defender in the league, but the top defender outside of the Premier League – high praise indeed.

And Santos played a major part in repelling Crewe’s attack at the weekend, despite the fact that David Artell’s Railwaymen have not been that potent throughout the season.

Crewe were restricted to just two shots of any kind, with Santos leading by example from the back to keep the third tier strugglers at bay.

Looking at Santos’ stat-line from the match, he made nine clearances from Crewe attacks, 17 recoveries of the ball, six interceptions, won all four of his defensive duels and also