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You wouldn’t have guessed Craig Davies had just scored a winning goal to seal a fourth straight home win for Wanderers when he ambled into the press room late on Saturday evening.
With a fifth strike of the season under his belt and clear daylight now between his team and the relegation zone, there seemed cause for a little more celebration.
But the battle-weary striker was not about to start patting himself or his team-mates on the back after grinding out a sixth win of the season against Huddersfield Town.
“The thing is today I'm honestly a little bit disappointed in myself, I felt like I could have played better,” he told The Bolton News.
“I've played better and not scored, so I'm happy with the goal – and it was the winner, so I'm grateful for that. But I do need to improve.”
Davies has fought his way to regular inclusion in the Wanderers team this season under both Dougie Freedman and Neil Lennon.
And that has got some discussing whether he can also force his way into Chris Coleman’s plans on the international stage.
With seven Wales caps under his belt, the 28-year-old has been on standby for his country already this season.
But he insists his focus is on the short term, such is the demand from the Whites management at present.
“I'm not thinking about Wales,” he said. “A lot of people have asked me but honestly, I'm just thinking about Monday morning!
“I'm going to keep on working as hard as I can day in, day out and then hopefully the performances will show.”
While Wanderers are upwardly mobile in the table, moving into 18th with this win, there is no sense of the team getting ideas above their station.
Davies admits any player caught losing their focus runs the risk of their manager’s ire.
“Yeah, 100 per cent, we're still 18th,” he said. “There's nothing to get excited about yet. There's a long way and still a lot of work, but the last couple of games show that we've improved.
“The boys just want to keep on training hard and the gaffer will make sure we keep our feet on the ground, trust me. He's putting us through our paces and I think that's been showing in recent weeks.
“He's been at the top level, played at the top level and managed at the top level - he's managed in the Champions League. His expectation levels are high, and that's understandable, especially for a big club like us in this league.
“He expects and demands that every day. And recently he's been getting it. He asks for 110 per cent every day in training, and even when we're not in training. And he expects us to look after ourselves when we're not there.”
Lennon also issued some home truths after a disjointed first-half display but got the response he was looking for with a much-improved performance after the interval.
“I didn't think Craig was great in the first half and I gave him a reminder of what his responsibilities were and he was excellent second half as was (Liam) Feeney, as was (Max) Clayton.
“Our forward players were a lot better and the back four were outstanding. I must pay tribute to (Darren) Pratley the amount of ground he covered was fantastic considering it was three against two in there for the majority of the game.”
Lennon had demanded improvement after the draw against Blackpool and will feel he got it in the latter stages of the game.
The Northern Irishman admits slight concern over the fact his side seem to be starting games slowly of late.
“It was a hard fought win, you're always looking for more,” he said. “We were okay in the first half and a lot better second. I'd like us to start games better than the previous two.
“Again we’ve played a lot better as the game went on, and I don’t know why that’s the case. We’ll look at that.”
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With a fifth strike of the season under his belt and clear daylight now between his team and the relegation zone, there seemed cause for a little more celebration.
But the battle-weary striker was not about to start patting himself or his team-mates on the back after grinding out a sixth win of the season against Huddersfield Town.
“The thing is today I'm honestly a little bit disappointed in myself, I felt like I could have played better,” he told The Bolton News.
“I've played better and not scored, so I'm happy with the goal – and it was the winner, so I'm grateful for that. But I do need to improve.”
Davies has fought his way to regular inclusion in the Wanderers team this season under both Dougie Freedman and Neil Lennon.
And that has got some discussing whether he can also force his way into Chris Coleman’s plans on the international stage.
With seven Wales caps under his belt, the 28-year-old has been on standby for his country already this season.
But he insists his focus is on the short term, such is the demand from the Whites management at present.
“I'm not thinking about Wales,” he said. “A lot of people have asked me but honestly, I'm just thinking about Monday morning!
“I'm going to keep on working as hard as I can day in, day out and then hopefully the performances will show.”
While Wanderers are upwardly mobile in the table, moving into 18th with this win, there is no sense of the team getting ideas above their station.
Davies admits any player caught losing their focus runs the risk of their manager’s ire.
“Yeah, 100 per cent, we're still 18th,” he said. “There's nothing to get excited about yet. There's a long way and still a lot of work, but the last couple of games show that we've improved.
“The boys just want to keep on training hard and the gaffer will make sure we keep our feet on the ground, trust me. He's putting us through our paces and I think that's been showing in recent weeks.
“He's been at the top level, played at the top level and managed at the top level - he's managed in the Champions League. His expectation levels are high, and that's understandable, especially for a big club like us in this league.
“He expects and demands that every day. And recently he's been getting it. He asks for 110 per cent every day in training, and even when we're not in training. And he expects us to look after ourselves when we're not there.”
Lennon also issued some home truths after a disjointed first-half display but got the response he was looking for with a much-improved performance after the interval.
“I didn't think Craig was great in the first half and I gave him a reminder of what his responsibilities were and he was excellent second half as was (Liam) Feeney, as was (Max) Clayton.
“Our forward players were a lot better and the back four were outstanding. I must pay tribute to (Darren) Pratley the amount of ground he covered was fantastic considering it was three against two in there for the majority of the game.”
Lennon had demanded improvement after the draw against Blackpool and will feel he got it in the latter stages of the game.
The Northern Irishman admits slight concern over the fact his side seem to be starting games slowly of late.
“It was a hard fought win, you're always looking for more,” he said. “We were okay in the first half and a lot better second. I'd like us to start games better than the previous two.
“Again we’ve played a lot better as the game went on, and I don’t know why that’s the case. We’ll look at that.”
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