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Ian Evatt is confident Dapo Afolayan can become an even more influential figure for Wanderers in the second half of the season.
The Bolton boss says the striker’s “outstanding” recent form is reward for his hard work whilst finding himself out of the team earlier this season.
Afolayan has since returned to play alongside Dion Charles up front, where three goals in his last six appearances provide evidence that he has finally found a niche in Evatt’s preferred 3-4-1-2 line-up.
Now he has faith that last season’s player of the year can be an instrumental part of the push for promotion in League One.
“Me and Dapo have had some clashes but there is also a lot of love there,” he said. “And nobody is more pleased for Dapo than me right now.
“He is a player who came into the game late, we mustn’t forget that.
“He went to university, he had a different journey to most. He went to West Ham and things didn’t quite work out there but by the time he came to us he was still learning the game, learning his trade. He was still learning about himself.
“I have seen lots of personal development in Dapo, on and off the pitch, and I continue to see that. He has got the ability to be a leader in the dressing room, there is no denying it, but it is how he leads – that is what he has to learn.
“He is a great player and a real threat. And he is adding strings to his bow that will only serve him well for his future career with us and potentially in the future with somebody else.
“For now, we have to carry on working hard with him and enjoying how he is playing at the moment, because he has been outstanding, long may it continue.”
Evatt thinks Afolayan and other younger players in his squad have learned plenty from team-mate Elias Kachunga, whose positive influence has often been cited around the club.
He said: “Kacha is probably our most reliable forward in terms of receiving the ball with his back to goal, his understanding of how and when to use his body, when to lay-off, when to spin, when to try and gain or buy fouls. He is a very experienced player and a good character.
“He is a really important part of the dressing room because the players really like him, as a staff we like and support him. And he plays an important part with the younger players to let them know what it is like to be a professional football player.
“He has played at the top level and we have to respect that.
“They can learn about the way he goes about his business from day to day. He has high standards and expectations of himself as a footballer and that spread across the group.”
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