There is only one possible downside to Elias Kachunga’s early days at Bolton Wanderers, and that’s the ear-worm chant bestowed on him by the club’s faithful fans.
Set to the tune of The Champs’ rock n roll instrumental ‘Tequila’ – supporters have already managed to work the former Germany Under-21 striker’s name into a terrace song, which was heard in full force at Lincoln on Tuesday night.
“I have noticed it,” Ian Evatt grimaced in his weekly press conference. “I was whistling that all day yesterday – I couldn’t get it out of my head.”
Tequila or not, Evatt is determined not to get over-excited and give the former Huddersfield Town man a shot before he is ready.
“Rushing him is the danger,” he said of the 29-year-old. “He hasn’t had a pre-season and we haven’t been training heavily because of the fixtures. It’s patience, really, and I have to have patience because I don’t want to break him down because he is going to be really important for us.
“Just the composure he has shown creating the two goals he has for us, finding the key pass; that is experience and he is going to be a key player. The lads have really taken to him and he is becoming a leader, which is great for the senior players.”
Kachunga is held in equally high regard by supporters at Huddersfield, whom he helped into the Premier League in a successful loan spell in 2016/17.
But the striker did not experience the same relationship with the fans at Hillsborough last season as Sheffield Wednesday dropped out of the Championship, leaving him with a record of just one goal in 29 games.
“You should never judge a book by its cover, my mother taught me that,” Evatt said.
“Just because he didn’t achieve what he wanted to at Sheffield Wednesday – there was a lot of stuff that went into that, the team itself was struggling, the financial situation they were in. Sometimes you find a home, somewhere you are comfortable and can produce your best performances and we are hopeful we can do that with Kacha.”
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