Though doubts have been raised externally about the relative lack of experience and depth in Steven Schumacher’s squad as they step into a higher level of football, the mood within remains fiercely competitive.
Forino reckons the policy of signing mainly younger players on longer contracts last summer can pay dividends.
But the defender feels that the close bonds formed in the promotion season will be the most important factor in the months ahead.
“I think particularly this time last year you could see what we were trying to do, the signings we’d made,” he told The Bolton News.
“We got young players – and this is a young squad, I mentioned that a few times last year – but they have the ability and the potential to step up.
“We haven’t got a massive amount of experience in the Championship, obviously, but we have got a young and hungry squad who are willing to go and prove ourselves.
“It is obviously going to be a challenge because we have been out there in League One and League Two for a while.
“But it’s about having the adaptability and the hunger, and this group does have that.
“I think we have seen it.
“Last year, doing what we did, we worked really hard and we have got each other’s backs.
“And that does take you a long way.”
Strengthening that camaraderie and helping to settle new signings like Kyliane Dong, Akin Famewo, Luca Stephenson, Ben Davies and David Watson was one of the main objectives of the training camp in Slovakia, which came to a close on Friday evening with a friendly near the Hungarian border against DAC Streda.
Forino was impressed by the facilities at the Xbionic Sphere, based just outside Bratislava in Samorin.
And with Bolton’s involvement in last season’s play-offs meaning a truncated summer, the workload has also been considerable.
“This is my sixth pre-season now and the first few days always hit you like a truck, no matter how much or how little you do in the off-season,” he smiled.
“I do think if you’re not involved in the play-offs there’s a little bit more downtime, so you can build things up a little bit slower and easier.
“We didn’t have that luxury because we did what we sat out to do, and that’s get promoted.
“It just means we have got to work that little bit harder in the four-and-a-half weeks that we have got and the S&C staff have been diligently planning and going into week two we’re in a good spot.”
Forino’s ‘celebrations’ after Wembley cemented him as a fans’ favourite but, he assured us, the focus is now solely on preparing for the Championship.
“I ran the highs for a few weeks, that euphoric feeling,” he said.
“You drink it all in – not literally – the drinking stopped after three or four days, personally, but we enjoyed that and we enjoyed Ibiza with the lads as well.
“But it’s all business now.
“Back down to the hard work!”
