STEVEN Schumacher reckons there are 1,500 reasons why Wanderers cannot afford to let their winning streak slip at Oldham Athletic tonight.
Not only does the Bolton boss want to maintain momentum after five previous wins on the spin, but he also wants to reward the loyalty shown by yet another sell-out away end.
Wanderers are already qualified for the knockout stages and assured a home game by virtue of finishing top of the group. Yet Schumacher wants to ensure that when his team return to League One action on November 22 against Bradford City, they do so looking for a seventh straight win.
"We need to stay in a rhythm," he told The Bolton News. "Yes, it does give us a chance to keep everyone in the squad going and give people minutes they need but most importantly, just try to win it.
"You are playing against a local team and I know they can't qualify but it's still a team from the area and we are taking a lot of fans there considering - so we need to perform.
"Taking that many just shows you how big our support is, and we're going well. Wherever our fans go we appreciate and we'll be trying everything to get another away win if we can."
Schumacher hasn't necessarily kept a tally as his side's impressive winning run has steadily built up in recent weeks, but he has observed the rising competitiveness within his squad.
The numbers are not as important to him as the progression, and though he will make changes at Boundary Park he does not expect his players to need any geeing up.
"Generally speaking, when you are winning games you are performing well, and that's what I want," he said. "You have to try and keep in a rhythm, keep everybody at it, and I think this game is a really good opportunity for us before we get a little break to give some much-needed minutes and make sure as many players as possible get into that rhythm.
"As a player you need that if you are going to perform at your best. I don't think I need to motivate anyone anymore. We told them straight after the game on Saturday that we're going strong at Oldham because I want another win, I want to keep building and doing the right things.
"Having high standards is important, so you shouldn't need to motivate anybody. We know that we've won the group and we know that's taken care of, but it's a chance for us to play against a competitive opposition and to go and play well.
"What it'll also do as well is give me a chance to play a couple of young lads, get them on the pitch hopefully, and give them an opportunity in the first team, which again is massively important."
Schumacher is also keen to make sure his whole squad is in match shape in what he feels will be a challenging run of fixtures to the end of 2025.
"It starts at Oldham, it won't be an easy game," he said. "But then we have Bradford, after that Luton, two difficult games. Before you know it, you're getting into the Christmas period, where not only have we got another Vertu Trophy game, then we've got an FA Cup game. Then we play Exeter, I think, in the league.
"Then you are into the Christmas schedule, which not only are the fixtures difficult, they come every few days. So, having a fully fit squad available will be important."