It is hard to change the habits of a lifetime — even harder to swap the team you have supported for years for one that's only recently come under your radar. But in 2008, Wanderers club doctor, Dr Jonathan Tobin realised he had gone through a dramatic life change.

For Tobin, who joined the backroom staff from Preston North End, had been a lifelong Spurs fan.

In Jonathan's case the realisation wasn't a road to Damascus moment, rather a path to White Hart Lane one.

"When we visited Tottenham in my first season at the club two things struck me. One was how small the ground looked from pitch level after years of being sat in the stands. The other was how much I wanted Bolton to absolutely wipe the floor with Spurs! I wanted Bolton to win so badly I felt quite guilty really," he says.

"At Preston North End it was relatively easy to combine supporting Spurs and following North End — it was two worlds that never really met — but being here at the Reebok that has changed."

As we all could have warned the good doctor, following Bolton has a tendency to get in the blood.

"When I joined the club, I was told that once you are involved in football on a daily basis it starts to take over your life and he is absolutely right. It consumes you."

Not that Tobin had ever plotted his way into the Premier League. For the soccer-mad southerner getting involved in the beautiful game was something of a happy accident.

"Six years ago I moved north from London to Preston to be closer to my girlfriend. Not long after my arrival in the area I was at a dinner and, as luck would have it, was sitting next to the then Preston North End club doctor. He asked me if I was interested in football and when I said yes he said I ought to come down to the club. He told me that he was aiming to retire in six months' time and that if I worked as his assistant until then no-one would notice when he eventually decided to go. Incredibly, that is almost exactly what happened.

"I didn't ever plan to get into football. It's not something you can do really. I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time."

So until taking up his position at the Reebok Jonathan had worked as a GP in Penwortham and part time at Deepdale.

"Working at North End meant going into the club one morning a week and attending home matches. It was a fantastic place to work. It had a welcoming and friendly feel to it and I really enjoyed myself there.

"But when the chance to work at Bolton came up and it took one visit to the training for me to make my mind up. As well as the great facilities, working here meant an opportunity to get fully involved on a day-to-day basis with the players and that's what really excited me.

"One of the things I loved most about Preston was that it had a small family feel to it. The difference between the Premier League and Championship is astronomical but even so Bolton still manages to have a similar close feel.

"And, from a professional point of view it's a great place to work. The thing is, as a part-time club doctor, you sometimes only get to see an injured player two days after the injury has happened. Being involved all the time is phenomenal. If a player has any worries, any minor ailments, you are on hand to deal with it.

"We look after the injured players and the fit players too. We have a rehab clinic and we also have a 'pre-hab' clinic where we examine the fit players. Here we examine players in detail to look for any potential weaknesses. Then we put together an exercise programme to strengthen that particular weakness. The aim here is to stop a potential injury before it even occurs.

"I am also on hand to liaise with consultants and to oversee medicals when a player is being signed. Each player also undergoes a full medical review each year."

Tobin started his medical career at a teaching hospital in London and combined life at North End with work as a GP where coughs and colds were a common problem. It remains part of his work.

"Naturally the players suffer from coughs and colds and other common problems which we do our best to combat. The thing is that if I have a cold and feel about 80 per cent well I can soldier on. I may feel lousy, but I can get through my day.

"It's not like that for the players. If you are a professional footballer you cannot hope to perform at your best if you are only functioning at 80 per cent. So we treat coughs and colds very aggressively so that they don't hang around for long."

The only thing he hasn't found a cure for is Bolton Wanderers fever!