Steven Schumacher can't repeat Wembley mistake that gave Ian Evatt his greatest Bolton Wanderers day | OneFootball

Steven Schumacher must learn from the lessons taught by Bolton Wanderers to his Plymouth Argyle side back in 2023.

As they head into the League One play-off final for a second time in three years, Bolton Wanderers supporters will hark back to a better day out at Wembley Stadium in 2023 – one in which they will hope current boss Steven Schumacher has learned from.

Bolton Wanderers supporters will believe, and perhaps fairly so, that the club that they love has been outside of the top two divisions for far too long – and far longer than it ever should be.

Having knocked on the door of promotion for a while now, this being their third play-off campaign in four seasons, the Trotters have to be optimistic of finally getting back into the Championship.

The occasion of a play-off final at Wembley Stadium is one that excites and petrifies supporters in equal measure, especially after their 2-0 defeat to Oxford United in the fixture a couple of years ago.

The year before that, though, was a much more memorable and special occasion for Whites fans as they hammered Plymouth Argyle by four goals to nil in the EFL Trophy.

That was a Plymouth side that would eventually be crowned League One winners with over 100 points but they were humiliated at Wembley – under the management of now Bolton boss Schumacher.

Steven Schumacher must learn from the lesson taught by Bolton

Plymouth were magnificent in the 2022/23 League One campaign, amassing over 100 points in a ridiculous promotion battle that saw them pip an Ipswich Town side that would be promoted to the Premier League 12 months later.

The Pilgrims turned up to Wembley Stadium, though, with a month of the campaign to go, and were blown away by a brilliant Bolton side, with the Trotters racing into a two-goal lead before making it 4-0 with goals via Elias Kachunga and Gethin Jones in the second-half.

Wanderers, who finished fifth that season and went on to lose to Barnsley in the play-off semi-finals, were relentless and dominant against the champions-elect of the third-tier.

In the league fixtures that season, Plymouth punished a wasteful Bolton in fairly comfortable style in August with a 2-0 victory at Home Park before they then held on for a goalless draw in Lancashire in January.

Having failed to score against Argyle, Bolton rattled in four on the biggest stage and it was that big stage that they relished but Plymouth failed to cope with.

Schumacher has discussed how he tried to treat the game like any other to ensure things remained calm within his squad – but this was no other game, and Bolton played up to it.

Bolton boss Ian Evatt got his squad to really play into the fact that they were going to be playing at Wembley, and all of the ceremony that they entailed – whereas Schumacher’s squad was, by his own admittance, left to be shaken and stirred by what confronted them on the day.

Unable to turn the Bolton tide around, Schumacher had to sit idly by as his Argyle side was dispatched of – but, little did he or Bolton supporters know at the time, it may well have been ideal preparation for this weekend.

Bolton appear well equipped for the big occasion

Steven Schumacher, as he has acknowledged, made mistakes that day and he will have to take those lessons learned into the play-off final with Stockport County.

The beauty of it is that he does have a squad that should be well equipped themselves for dealing with the big occasion of a do or die clash at the country’s largest stadium.

Those players that dispatched of Plymouth have built up that experience of playing at Wembley and, while there has been a lot of change, they shouldn’t be left in awe like the Argyle players were.

The concern for Bolton supporters would be the stale performance that the Whites put in against Oxford a year later – but this is a very different style and manager now.

Schumacher’s pragmatism, albeit pretty much always positive tactically, should aid Bolton in not becoming frozen or bogged down against Stockport County.

The individual quality that they have in the final third, such as Ruben Rodrigues and Amario Cozier-Duberry among a few others, should present openings that they did not see in 2024 but were plentiful in 2023.

From a tactical perspective, Bolton appear to be in a good spot to take the final on – the concern would have to be the mentality side, but they may well have inadvertently solved that issue a few years ago.

By dismantling Schumacher’s Plymouth in the way that they did in the spring of three years ago, the former Stoke City boss should be well aware of what he personally must do different to avoid any sort of similar fate for his Bolton side this weekend.