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Amadou Bakayoko hopes to celebrate a surprise international call-up with a goodbye goal at Crewe this weekend.
The Wanderers striker has been selected for Sierra Leone’s squad for forthcoming friendlies against Togo, Liberia and the Republic of Congo, to be played in Turkey.
But before jetting off, he hopes to add to his tally of 10 goals this season, which equals his best-ever return, scored in a Walsall shirt in 2016/17.
Bolton may now be rank outsiders for a play-off spot but Bakayoko insists that there is still determination within the squad to push to the bitter end.
“We have to finish strong, that is the key,” he told The Bolton News. “It is definitely not over and it is up to us to make sure we go and perform right, do our bit.
“We need to go and dominate. We have eight games to go and whoever starts, go there, push, and give it our all.
“We have to finish with confidence. Everyone will just look at where you end up and make their own judgement, but I think us as a team, I think we have done really well and there is still a lot more to come as the gaffer keeps saying.”
Bakayoko was born in Sierra Leone but moved with his family to neighbouring Guinea at a young age, then started playing football after moving to the Netherlands at the age of six.
He had turned down a call-up from the Leone Stars as a Coventry City player in 2018 in the hope he could represent Holland, where he had lived to the age of 10.
But with the national team looking to bring in some new blood after the African Cup of Nations, he felt this would be the right time to step up a level.
“I have international call-ups a couple of times but I have turned them down because I didn’t feel ready,” he said. “But I feel right now, the place I am at, the age I am at, this is a good time to go and get the best out of myself.
“I could have played for two or three different countries but I wasn’t playing regularly for my club at the time so I didn’t feel I was ready to step up to international level when I couldn’t get into the team at club level.
“It was a tough decision. Family is important to me and it’s something I always need to communicate with them. At the time my brother or my dad or my mum weren’t feeling it was right and neither did I, but this time around I think I’m at a good stage, a good age and I feel like I can hopefully bring a lot out of the international just as much as club.”
Bakayoko won the PFA player of the month award for February and was also nominated for the SkyBet award after scoring five goals during the course of the month.
“I think winning things like this it just gives you a good boost. I think this is my first personal trophy that I’ve had and it’s one of them where you just want to carry on and get more. I’m at the stage where I’m hungry for a lot more.”
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