Bolton Wanderers head coach Steven Schumacher believes that Joel Randall has all the attributes to recover from a tough opening year at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

The attacking midfielder joined the Trotters in a reported £1.3 million deal from fellow League One outfit Peterborough United in January. A bright start saw him score his first goal for his new club in his third outing, which ended in defeat against Charlton Athletic. However, he soon found himself on the fringes of the squad, failing to find the back of the net again during the remainder of the campaign.

Randall saw his opportunities increase at the beginning of this season and started six of the opening eight league games. He netted his second goal for the club in a 3-0 win over AFC Wimbledon in September, but those familiar struggles have resurfaced in recent months.

Rare start offers glimmer of hope for Randall

The 26-year-old had started just one of Bolton’s last 12 league games prior to Boxing Day. Therefore, it was somewhat of a shock to see him in Schumacher’s starting XI for the visit of Rotherham United.

Playing in his preferred number 10 role, the former Exeter City youngster had an effort cleared off the line and another blocked but failed to find a breakthrough. He was eventually substituted in the 81st minute, with some sections of the home support ironically jeering his departure.

Joel Randall had a good game today. If you cannot see that, then either:

– Football isn’t for you
– You’ve already made your mind up on him and refuse to have a neutral opinion on him

Let’s be honest, it’s probably the latter. #bwfc

— Harvey (@hrvyo27) December 26, 2025

Despite that, it was a decent performance, which was echoed by the head coach. Speaking to the media, the ex-Stoke City boss encouraged Randall to keep believing:

“It’s an unforgiving game. It’s down to Joel now, it’s over to him. He has had a lot of opportunities, played a lot this year.

“I don’t know how many games he’s had but they have all been in that number 10 position, they have all had a chance, all had a run. And it will only happen for him if he keeps believing it will happen for him and keeps putting himself into those areas.

“He had one cleared off the line where he was in a good position, another one blocked with his left foot that was going in. Sometimes you just might need a deflection, a bit of luck to go your way.

“But if he stops believing in himself and stops getting in them areas, then it definitely won’t happen. So hopefully it does for him because I think he’s a good player.

“When he does start scoring, I think he could become a different player because his all-round game is actually really good, with and without the ball. He just needs the things that people remember now.”

Do Schumacher’s comments stack up?

Schumacher stated that Randall has had a lot of opportunities this season, which doesn’t appear to be strictly true. He’s featured 13 times in League One and his Boxing Day start was just his second since mid-September.

The attacker netted his only goal of the season against Wimbledon during the same month but then fell out of favour. He was on the pitch for just 30 minutes throughout October.

His latest outing was a decent one. It will be interesting to see if he retains his place for tomorrow night’s visit of Mansfield Town. It could be the ideal fixture to kick-start his campaign against one of the division’s strugglers.