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Dan Nlundulu may not have time to show his full potential at Wanderers this season – but that won’t stop him having an impact on the play-off race, says Ian Evatt.
The Southampton striker has caught the eye in the last few weeks having recovered from a hamstring injury sustained shortly after his January move from St Mary’s.
Nlundulu has been playing catch-up ever since and though he is still not at the level Evatt would consider ideal, his recent progress gives Evatt some reason for optimism.
“Dan isn’t where I want him to be fitness-wise because he can’t sustain it yet for 90 minutes but it is getting better and he is getting fitter as time goes by,” he told The Bolton News.
“Playing in that position for us there is a responsibility to defend from the front and also one to attack, it is physical demanding. It takes time to get used to that.
“Dan got an injury at the wrong time but he is improving and he is buying into everything we are doing in and out of possession, which for a modern day centre forward is equally important.
“I have seen some good signs with him and I think you’ll see more in the rest of the season.”
Nlundulu’s last goal came against today’s opponents Shrewsbury Town in December for Cheltenham, and though he is yet to open his account for the Whites, his involvement has increased post-Wembley, including a second start against Oxford United.
The 24-year-old has said he has no firm plans for the future but looks likely to be available for transfer at the end of the season.
Evatt does not want to talk about the possibility of a full-time move until he knows the division in which Bolton will be playing.
“At the moment, no,” he said of the prospect of transfer talks. “Our full focus is the here and now and then we will have a look at things in the summer when we get there.”
Victor Adeboyejo is also finding his feet after a £450,000 January move from Burton Albion, and he scored his third goal for the club in Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw against his previous employers.
Evatt feels both Adeboyejo and Nlundulu would be in a different situation had they spent the whole season with Bolton.
“Sometimes when you do business in January, that is a negative side,” he said. “It takes people time to get up to speed because they had been doing things one way and now we are asking them to do things completely differently.
“I think with a full pre-season you’d see two completely different players, I have no doubt about that, but they are getting up to speed. There is progression and Victor has started scoring, which is really important for him and his future at the club.”
Though there was some frustration in the camp that second-half chances were not converted at the Pirelli Stadium in midweek, Evatt feels there is a positive mood heading towards this afternoon’s home game.
“It is important we are still in a good frame of mind because it was an excellent performance,” he said. “The nature of football is that pre-game most people would have been happy with a point, post-game when you play like that you want more.
“For us, we have to park that now and move on to Shrewsbury, put in another performance like that and it will give us a strong chance of the three points we need.”
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