Aaron Collins opened his Bolton goalscoring account but manager Ian Evatt believes the best is yet to come from the former Bristol Rovers star.

Collins’ 66th-minute strike sealed a 2-0 victory for promotion hunting Wanderers, bouncing back after successive defeats to Blackpool and Wigan.

George Thomason set Evatt’s side on the way to a badly needed win with his fifth of the campaign 10 minutes from the break.

“It was important for Aaron to get off the mark so I am pleased for him,” said Evatt.

“To come to a massive club with a large price tag for the level and the huge weight of expectation is sometimes a difficult thing to do.

“Aaron has moved away from home and living in and out of hotels can be tough. He needs time to settle down.

“In the second half we saw more of the Aaron Collins of what we are going to see in the future. He has real quality but we haven’t seen the best of him.”

Evatt finally managed a smile after a week he described as feeling “like a lifetime. It’s been a harsh few days but the players responded great.

“The only criticism is we want more reward for our good play and hard work.

“We deserved more goals and could have made it more comfortable for everyone. But the win is the most important thing.”

Thomason’s goal was his fifth of the season but he later took an unwanted piece of club history.

His 70th-minute challenge on James Brophy yielded a 17th yellow card of the campaign, one more than the record he previously shared with El Hadji Diouf.

Brophy went closest to equalising for otherwise-disappointing Cambridge just before the hour.

The miss was compounded when Collins turned in Paris Maghoma’s pass six minutes later and then had another effort kicked off the line.

“We did as much as we could,” said United interim boss Barry Corr. “You have to respect the opponent.

“They ask loads of questions of you and create overloads all over the pitch.

“In the first half we were pinned into a lower block and maybe became passive. But in terms of effort and application they were spot on.

“The better team won, however the result away to Bolton isn’t going to determine our season.”

Corr has been in temporary charge for three games since Neil Harris’s shock return to Millwall.

“The players need some stability and (a new manager) will definitely help them,” Corr added. “I would imagine it will be from Monday.”

Former Swansea and Leeds boss Garry Monk is the favourite to take over.

Oxford boss Des Buckingham was far happier with his team’s second-half showing after they came from behind at the break to beat Cambridge 2-1 at the Kassam Stadium.

Cambridge led through Jordan Cousins’ goal at a corner after 30 minutes – and they should have been further ahead at half-time with James Brophy missing a great chance to make it 2-0.

Tyler Goodrham, who came into Oxford’s side because left winger Josh Murphy was injured, scored a brilliant solo equaliser nine minutes after the break, cutting in from the left and firing into the far corner from 22 yards.

Defender Ciaron Brown then headed in a winner five minutes into stoppage time when Cambridge goalkeeper Jack Stevens could only beat out Cameron Brannagan’s long-range drive.

It was only Buckingham’s second league win in seven games.

He said: “It was a nice way for us to finish the game.

“I said to the players at half-time that we needed to move the ball quicker and stick to our beliefs.

“I’m extremely happy with the response.

“Tyler has been very patient, he’s been coming on as a substitute a couple of times since I’ve been here.

“It’s about coming on or coming in and having an impact and Tyler’s done that extremely well.

“Losing Josh Murphy before the game was a blow.

“If you look at his record, Tyler doesn’t just score goals, he scores goals at important moments.

“It hopefully gives me a tough selection problem now for our next game against Derby.

“We were much better in the second half. We needed more speed and to move the ball quicker, and we did that.

“The changes we made and fresh legs coming on helped keep that sharpness on the field.”

Oxford’s dramatic late victory came after they lost to a last-minute goal in their last match at Northampton on Saturday.

Buckingham said: “We spoke about sticking to what we wanted to do.

“At Northampton we saw a loose structure coming in which cause us a lot of chaos.

“Teams come to us and sometimes want to settle for a point. We’re not happy with a point – we always want to go for three.”

Cambridge head coach Neil Harris said: “I feel for the players.

“We were that good first half we should have been three or four goals clear at half-time.

“We’ve got to be more ruthless in their penalty area.

“The quality of some of our play was outstanding but we have to take more responsibility in front of goal.

“We’re playing against a team that is fifth in the league and who topped the table for quite some time, so to come here and dominate as we did in the first half was impressive.”