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Josh Sheehan’s role in last night’s thrilling comeback against Burton did not go unnoticed in the Wanderers camp.
The Wales international came off the bench in the second half for his first league appearance at the University of Bolton Stadium in nearly a year, quickly getting to the pace of the game.
Sheehan, who has fought back from a serious knee injury, had previous been limited to playing in the cup competitions as his fitness was being carefully managed.
But his impact against Burton suggested he could be close to a full-scale return, and Ian Evatt praised the midfielder’s attitude as he steadily improved his conditioning in the last few weeks.
“He is an excellent player,” said the Wanderers boss. “We have missed him. I would argue that he was one of the bright sparks of early last season when things weren’t going well until the injury. It was an innocuous injury and sometimes those ones are always the worst.
“We missed him. Since he’s been back he has had to be patient. He has been frustrated and I know he has, but he’s conducted himself superbly, he has been a good team-mate and waited for an opportunity and today I thought when he came on, he showed signs of being and showing us what he can do - probe, unlock doors, really clever movement and play, sees a pass, so I was pleased for him.” Wanderers had created a few chances in the first half to forge ahead but by the time of Sheehan’s arrival had become frustrated, falling behind to Sam Hughes’s header and seemingly running out of attacking impetus.
They levelled the game with a straightforward ball over the top, volleyed left-footed into the net by Amadou Bakayoko.
Evatt had switched the focus with the addition of two more physical strikers, proof, said the manager that his team has more than one playing style in their armoury.
“It is really difficult because everyone knows how we want to play and tonight we were disrupted,” he said. “We weren’t allowed to play that way. There were glimpses and flickers of it throughout the game but we just couldn’t get any momentum.
We only started gaining momentum from being a bit more direct, getting the big two upfront who were physical and strong and we got Sads and Conor running on the back line as well.
“Josh Sheehan probing, unlocking doors which he can do, Kieran Lee’s movement is excellent, just arrives in the box at the right time all of the time. We just got some momentum, a head of steam up and eventually broke the door down and got the win.”
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