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Snapping his fingers and shuffling his feet, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson is starting to find his rhythm once again at Wanderers.
The Icelandic striker – serenaded to the tune of Manfred Mann’s sixties classic Doo Wah Diddy by the Bolton fans – has started the last three games, scoring in two of them.
His season to this stage has been a bit of a broken record, a patch of good form followed by an injury, rinse and repeat. But the 30-year-old hopes the worst is now behind him and he is looking forward to this week’s second meeting with Portsmouth as an opportunity to push Wanderers further towards the top of the charts.
“I want to get back into the groove,” he told The Bolton News. “It is so important, especially as a striker to get that run, to grow in confidence. I have felt better and better recently, so hopefully that continues.
“It has been a weird season for me, I have been injured, I have been sick, but I am still happy – it could be worse. Hopefully now I can stay healthy and get on with the job.”
Wanderers’ front line, now minus the Forest Green-bound Amadou Bakayoko, have had their goal return scrutinised heavily throughout the first half of the season.
Bodvarsson points out, however, that he and Dion Charles now share 19 goals between them in all competitions, and with the team in the middle of a run of six clean sheets in seven games he feels the correct balance is now being struck.
“It is a positive change from last season to now – we are very hard to beat,” he said.
“They have been brilliant at the back and we are not conceding goals, so it is down to us to get the ball in the back of the net.
“Maybe last season we scored more but we conceded more too, now it is a better balance.
“I feel great and I have never been down on confidence – I have always believed in myself that I can score and provide goals. It is just that run of games, getting comfortable.
“I try not to focus too much on the number – I want to help the team out in as many ways as possible, that’s how I think.”
Bodvarsson’s luck was summed up in the December meeting with Bristol where, after getting himself back in Ian Evatt’s regular plans, he was smashed in the nose making a defensive clearance, suffering an injury which eventually needed surgery.
The striker had expected to play in a mask for the first few weeks of the recovery but soon got a surprise.
“The doctor was kind of medieval, he didn’t really believe in masks – they are more for cheekbones and eye sockets, he said.
“I had two weeks off and the first game back it was a bit uncomfortable with hands flying everywhere but after that first one I kind of forgot about it. I haven’t had an elbow yet!”
Bodvarsson’s midweek goal against Pompey earned Bolton passage into the semi-finals of the Papa Johns Trophy and while the performance was not a vintage one, he said the prospect of being 90 minutes from Wembley meant the result was all that mattered.
“We got the job done in the end,” he said. “First half was great, second half was a bit flat at times, sometimes game management wasn’t the greatest. I am just happy we are through the semi-finals.
“It is close now and we want to play at Wembley – it’s like the Mecca here in England.
“The belief is there, especially now we are so close. We’ll do our best to be there.
“I don’t mind who we get, it’ll be fine. I don’t really look at teams we meet, I don’t really care!”
Wanderers got a feel for Pompey on Tuesday night but the last 90 minutes will have no bearing on the next, says Bodvarsson, with three points at stake.
“It is strange to get two games against the same team in such a short spell but in the end it is about us,” he said. “We got a feeling of how they play and it will be the same for them with us, but it is a massive game now.
“You could sense it in the dressing room right away, that game was over, Saturday is what we focus on.”
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