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Josh Sheehan is not about to complain about a quick turnaround for Wanderers.
The Wales international is enjoying every minute he can get on the pitch after spending the best part of a year side-lined by injury and fighting hard to re-establish himself as a first team starter under Ian Evatt.
His winning goal against Port Vale on Saturday was his first since November 2021, a time when he was very much the fulcrum of the Whites’ midfield.
Now, with heavy competition for a starting spot, he is hoping two successive starts can be a springboard for him to play a big part in the promotion push – and potentially even a spot at Wembley.
“I don’t think many players will be moaning at the moment on the run that we’re on,” he told The Bolton News. “If we were losing there might be a bit of grumbling.
“We want to keep playing, keep winning, not focus too much on the teams above us but just keep trying to keep doing our thing.
“For me, everyone knows where I’ve been, how long it took to get back, but I feel like I am heading in the right direction.
“The gaffer has got so many options for the final, I think every one of the lads will want to play, but we can’t really think about that for the minute. We want points on the board.”
Sheehan missed more than half of his first season at Wanderers with a knee injury picked up in the FA Cup defeat against Stockport County and has had to ease himself back into regular rotation.
Building up his fitness and resilience gradually, he hopes to now be in the position to finish the campaign strongly/ “I just want to get back to the best possible version I can be,” he said.
“When you have been out for as long as I was, it is tough to get back to where you were.
“You feel you can but it does take time, that is a natural thing. I don’t know of many players who can hit the ground running from the first game.
“It is having confidence in yourself and where you were before you got injured, so over the last few weeks I feel like I am getting closer to that in training and then when I have been in games.
“I am looking forward to what is coming up now.”
The win against Port Vale won’t necessarily make the season’s highlight reel for Wanderers but looking at the other clubs who were in action during midweek, Sheehan felt the result could be an important one in the long run.
“I think we have to keep doing what we’re doing,” he said. “Saturday wasn’t the best performance but after getting to Wembley and everyone being so high, the main thing was to keep winning and stay positive.
“I think that was a big result because when you saw the other teams who played in the semi-final, Plymouth lost, Cheltenham lost and Accrington drew. It shows it can take it out of you, mentally, when there is a big prize at the end of it.
“For us to come away with three points was huge.”
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