Why Bolton Wanderers and Luton Town can be big winners from League One shift | OneFootball

Bolton Wanderers and Luton Town can take advantage of a recent shift in Sky Bet League One.

Bolton Wanderers and Luton Town can take advantage of a recent shift in Sky Bet League One.

A number of the early front-runners in the division were a surprise, with promoted duo of Bradford City and AFC Wimbledon hitting the top spots in the early goings. However, as a third of the season has now past, a realignment is taking place.

The Bantams, Wimbledon, Lincoln City, Stevenage, and Cardiff City all lost their most recent third tier games, as those who struggled in the first few weeks of the term have begun to catch up on the ground they lost early on.

Luton Town and Bolton Wanderers set to benefit

Chief among them is Luton. The twice-relegated Hatters are under the new leadership of Jack Wilshere, who has seen an uptick in form over recent weeks. They have won four consecutive games across all competitions after Mansfield Town shocked the former Arsenal and England midfielder in his dugout debut.

Luton have steadily climbed to ninth in the League One table, after they started the term with four losses out of eight games under Matt Blomfield. He was soon sacked by the club, with Wilshere's addition started the turning round of what was looking like a troubled ship.

Bolton had an even less fruitful start to the campaign, with four consecutive draws seeing them off the pace by the end of August. But, a mixture of youth and energy has seen Steven Schumacher's team power back up the table with three league victories in a row over heavy-hitters Huddersfield Town, topsy-turvy Cardiff, and promoted Port Vale.

Mason Burstow and Amario Cozier-Duberry have hit the headlines for Wanderers, with the team sitting at the top of key attacking statistics. According to Fotmob, no League One team has averaged more shots on target than Bolton, nor has anyone managed more touches in the opposition box.

While many of the early leaders sit among the play-off places after 15 games played, they have been overtaken or at least caught up by a few of the sides who fell behind in August.

The veil is beginning to slip for teams like Bradford, who despite still being second in the table, have just a single win to their name over the course of the last eight games in all competitions. And, that came against Everton under-21s in the EFL Trophy.

Their run of league failings has stretched to five games, with their most recent League One win coming back in September.

Cardiff have lost successive league games too, with Brian Barry-Murphy's tactics coming under slight scrutiny given its lack of adaptability. Surprise package Stevenage are three league games without victory, after they were overreaching their means with a stellar streak of results in the early months of the term.

Perhaps the even more surprising success story of the early season, AFC Wimbledon, have begun to stutter, with three consecutive losses in all competitions having included a 5-0 thumping against Peterborough United.

Michael Skubala's Imps have stuttered too, with a lack of goals seeing them slump to just one win in their last five league outings.

Bradford have started the season superbly, but like many of the teams who hit the front early, came as a surprise package.

It seems like the expectations, as well as some of the data, are beginning to catch up with those who led the way in the late summer months. Expected service is beginning to resume as the weather turns that bit colder, even if League One remains a back of tricks and shocks.