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Wanderers can bring the best out of striker Dan Nlundulu, says Ian Evatt.
The Southampton front man has joined until the end of the season after cutting short a loan spell with Cheltenham Town at the weekend.
Nlundulu impressed against Bolton earlier this season but has scored just six times in 43 games at League One level.
Evatt is backing himself to help the 23-year-old, who has also played in the third tier for Lincoln City, to prosper in a Wanderers side that has often struggled to convert the opportunities they create this season.
“When you sign strikers, the first thing everyone looks at is the goal record,” he told The Bolton News. “And if we could sign the League One Erling Haaland, then happy days.
“But he hasn’t played an awful amount of League One football and he has been in a team which, with respect, does not create lots and lots of opportunities.
“This is a completely different environment and team. We are bringing Dan in to put away some of the chances we are creating and we think he can do it.”
Nlundulu has played most of his football to date as a centre forward, including 13 appearances in the Premier League for Southampton.
He scored his first senior goal for the Saints in the FA Cup against Shrewsbury Town two years ago, which remains his only start for the club, and had been a transfer target for Evatt at Bolton in the past.
Joining wing-back Randell Williams, Nlundulu became the second signing of the January window, and one that Evatt hopes will bring some flexibility to his forward line.
“He gives us a different option and a different dynamic,” he said. “He is a young player who has played in the Premier League and has lots of attributes.
“He can be really reliable with his hold up and link play, he has pace in behind and physical strength. I think we all witnessed that in the Cheltenham away game earlier this season because I thought he was outstanding.
“He carries a goal threat, is intelligent, knows when to pick up pockets of space and when to run behind. We think he is an exciting talent and not one we have brought in to tick over, we have brought him in with an eye for the future. We feel he is an exciting player.”
Nlundulu will not be eligible when Wanderers take on Portsmouth in the Papa Johns Trophy quarter final tomorrow night, but will be available for the League One game that follows on Saturday.
Evatt hopes his side can match their performance against Plymouth Argyle, where he felt the only thing missing was a touch of ruthlessness in front of goal.
“It is a marker of how far we have come, the bad news is that we haven’t beaten a team that is top of the league,” he said. “There is some frustration for myself and the players because that game was good enough to win the game comfortably but we didn’t and we have to look at why, work hard to improve it.
“I don’t fear for us in that type of games. I feel like we always have that right type of attitude and energy, it is more ones like first half at Lincoln, Cheltenham away, Forest Green away, where attitude and focus dips away from what it needs to be to get promotion from this league.
“There are some big challenges to come but this team is in a good place and I like what I am seeing.”
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