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Whether you subscribe to the view that Wanderers have nothing left to play for this season but pride, or that miracles can happen and a play-off push is still within reach, Elias Kachunga wants to hear from you.
A spell out injured at the start of the year gave the erudite striker a different view of Ian Evatt’s improving side and how they were seen by thousands of Bolton fans, home and away.
Kachunga’s role in the side changed after a torn thigh muscle kept him out of action for several weeks, and his experience was used to help motivate his team-mates behind the scenes.
Now he is back in action, the 29-year-old hopes Wanderers’ supporters can give the players the extra spark they might need in the forthcoming triple header against Wigan Athletic, Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday, which will answer the question once and for all whether the top six is achievable or not.
Kachunga was impressed by the travelling fans at Crewe, who stayed remarkably sympathetic given the way a turgid game was going on a tough pitch last Saturday.
And he feels that kind of backing will be needed again if Bolton are to achieve what looks to some as the impossible.
“I think the supporters have been pushing us,” he told The Bolton News. “At Crewe, there was no frustration, even at 0-0.
“And I think that is important. We have a lot of younger players, or ones with not as much experience, so it gives them all a lift when you know the fans are behind you.
“We need them to push you, even if you are 1-0 down, to pull together as a club.
“Last season the team was incredible, what they did to go up. And we are still in the mix.
“We don’t want to speak too much. We will go game to game and see how we can end the season but we need them to be with us like that, it really helps.”
When Kachunga limped out of a Papa John’s Trophy game at Hartlepool on January 4, Dion Charles and Marlon Fossey had been signed just a couple of days earlier and the prospect of a promotion push looked unlikely in the extreme.
During his rehabilitation, things changed dramatically. The consequent addition of Aaron Morley, Kyle Dempsey, James Trafford, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Kieran Sadlier created a more competitive and flexible squad, which meant getting back into the team was a tougher task when he was fit to do so.
“Things are different,” he said. “I have trained with them and been around the dressing room but there is a little bit different style and formation now.
“We have also showed we can switch to different formations too. “Good guys came in during January and we are looking strong. There are good players who can come off the bench to change a game and I think that is good for everyone. You know on the pitch that you have to be at your top level.”
Kachunga had been playing catch-up on fitness for most of the season, having been without a club during the summer.
By November he hit his best form, scoring four times in six games, and starting 13 out of 14 matches as injuries elsewhere bit hard into Evatt’s squad.
Then Kachunga joined the list.
“These things happen,” he said of his injury at Hartlepool. “It was frustrating but I am now old enough to know what to do when you get injuries. It is part of the job.
“It is your responsibility to get back as soon as you can, fit and back into the team.
“I am fit now and I am looking forward to the next games.”
Kachunga has two promotions on his CV. He was part of the Paderborn side that reached the Bundesliga in 2014 and then helped Huddersfield Town into the Premier League a few years later via the play-offs.
Regardless of whether Wanderers now have too much ground to make up on the top six, the striker believes the team’s targets should remain the same over the next seven games.
“I was lucky to have two promotions in my career and it was the same – until the last game you have to believe you can go up if you still have that chance,” he said.
“At Huddersfield it was the same. We just looked from game to game, nobody was talking about a final or anything. It has to be the same here, we win one at a time.
“Even if at the end we don’t get there, we need to win each game and make sure we build for next season stronger.”
So, what would be the perfect way to finish his first season at Bolton Wanderers?
Kachunga wouldn’t mind a winner against Wigan Athletic.
“Everyone is looking forward to that game,” he smiled.
“The international break has given us a chance to re-focus and reset a little. We can train hard then to make sure we are ready for the Wigan match.
“I don’t think we need to have any pressure on us at all. We go out there, perform our best for three points. Those teams will want to stay up there but that is where we want to be.
“We just have to see every game as a final now.”
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