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Eoin Toal feels he is finally in the right place to show Wanderers fans what he can do.
The Northern Irish defender has had a slow start to his career at the University of Bolton Stadium, due in the main to a thigh injury he carried across from Derry City in the summer.
Toal completed his first full senior game on Tuesday night as Ian Evatt’s side progressed to the last 16 of the Papa John Trophy with a win against Barrow.
The 23-year-old had played half a season in the League of Ireland, including Europa League qualifiers, before arriving at Bolton, where he has also had to get his head around a new tactical system.
While he is yet to make his league debut, Toal gave a good account of himself against Barrow to show he is now ready for more.
“It was good to get 90 minutes. I had an injury when I got here, as you know, and picked up another little quad injury. But it was great to get some time under my belt, I’m feeling good now,” he said.
“It had been frustrating because I’d played 25 games in a season that goes from February to November, came here in August, having to stop for three or four weeks was tough and it has just been about trying to get back in.
“The defenders have been brilliant since I came here, there is high competition for places, but all I can do is work hard.
In front of Toal is a settled back three of Gethin Jones, Ricardo Santos and George Johnston, who have been the bedrock for Bolton since they returned to League One level last season.
The young defender says he has had to ‘go back to the beginning’ in order to grasp the new demands of playing in Evatt’s side.
“I have had to from the start, it is a different kind of system that the manager wants us to play, and I think it’s brilliant,” he said. “I have just been trying to do my best, played a few B Team games and tried to set an example there, and trying to learn a bit from the coaches and the other defenders.”
Elias Kachunga scored the decisive goal for Wanderers on Tuesday night as they put their name into the hat for Thursday night’s Papa Johns Trophy draw.
League Two Barrow did not make it easy, fighting back to level the game at 2-2 after the break. But Toal reckons Bolton were worthy winners in the end.
“It was good to get the win. We probably could have done better in the second half but I think overall we deserved it,” he said.
“We showed a bit of character. It should have been 2-0 at half time because their goal was a blatant foul on Dapo. We came out for the second half and conceded the second from a corner but we fought back, got a goal, had another one disallowed. We stayed positive.”
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