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In some ways, Dan Nlundulu’s goal at Bristol Rovers was the first moment that things had gone completely right for him since arriving at Bolton Wanderers.
The Southampton striker had picked up an injury shortly after his arrival, having cut short a loan from Cheltenham Town, and since then he has been battling to prove he is worth a regular start.
Some of his cameos had caught the eye – but Ian Evatt’s admission last week that the 24-year-old was still playing catch-up on fitness seemed to cast some doubt on his longer-term prospects at the UniBol.
All that being said, what a difference a week makes.
Nlundulu bagged his first goal in Bolton colours with a pin-point finish from the edge of the box, and on the back of a hugely impressive week on the training ground was then being compared to Brentford and England striker Ivan Toney.
The young striker smirked at the comparison, appreciating he has plenty left to prove before hitting the same heights as the one-time Newcastle United man, who has hit 20 goals in the Premier League this season.
“I’ll take it,” he told The Bolton News. “Ivan Toney is a great player and I feel like he had similar pathways to myself, going on loan here and there. It’s nice to hear praise like that.
“I have waited such a long time to score for Bolton, so it is a relief to get started and show people I can do it. But that has been and gone now. Now it’s the play-offs, and I want to score more.”
Wanderers’ January business had been placed under some scrutiny in the weeks leading up to the end of the regular season. Goals for Nlundulu and Shola Shoretire, plus an eye-catching display from Randell Williams, hint that there is still time for those opinions to be reviewed.
Nlundulu freely admits that the harder he seemed to try, the more difficult scoring that first goal seemed to be for his new loan club but having broken the seal, he now hopes to weigh in with some really important ones.
“That’s what I came here to do, to be involved with such a big club.
“I was confident I was going to get to the play-offs with Bolton,” he said. “As a team and as a unit the togetherness is great, we’re confident going into them, looking forward to the game. For me, though, scoring my first goal is massive.
“With a club like this and a squad like this, you know you are going to have a lot of competition. I knew exactly what I was getting into.
“There are great players in my position and when a chance comes along you have to try and take it. That’s just football, I guess.
“The gaffer has been great with me since I have been here, he has been patient and given me chances.
“That goal can only give me confidence. It is obviously only in the gaffer’s hands as to what team he picks. No matter who plays – me or someone else – I will be behind them. This is a team thing.
“If I don’t play, I couldn’t care less as long as the team won. I am here to help make Bolton a Championship club in whatever way I can, and I am happy to be here.”
Nlundulu’s future is still to be decided. He has 12 months left on his current deal with Southampton, who could themselves be in a state of flux this summer with relegation from the Premier League looking likely.
The decision to cut short a season-long loan at Cheltenham – where he enjoyed regular football – and take a leap of faith to Bolton was a defining one for the young striker.
“It was a huge gamble but I felt like I needed a push, or a challenge,” he said.
“I could have stayed with Cheltenham and played with Alfie May, who has done unbelievably for them, he’s had a great season, or I could come here and know I would be under pressure.
“I appreciate everything that club did for me but I felt that I had to come away for my development. If I had gone back to Southampton there would have been competition but the decision to come here was absolutely the right one for me.
“It is great when you know you are going to play, it really is. But it is something different when there are people behind you, pushing all the time, knowing that if you don’t score then you have someone else who’ll come in and show you how it is done. It is good pressure, and it just what I needed.
“Bolton are such a huge club, the fans have been amazing, and I think this squad can go and do it in the play-offs, I really do. I felt like this was my next step, and this is paying off.
“As for my future, right now I am thinking about the next game, not the summer, or what might happen after that. In my head there are play-offs and a chance to get into the Championship, after that, we have conversations.”
Evatt feels that with the right coaching, Nlundulu has the ability to become a regular goal-scorer, and to fit in with the high-energy style of football he has employed this season.
If his goal at Bristol had been well-timed, then more contributions in the two legs against Barnsley would be more so.
Even if his time at Bolton has not yet run perfectly, there is time and scope for Nlundulu, and others, to ensure it finishes on the biggest high of them all.
And if that leads to a permanent deal, then Nlundulu would certainly not turn it down.
“This is probably the best gaffer I have worked with, even though I haven’t necessarily had the game time I would have wanted since I have been here, things like training and the amount of detail he goes into, it is honestly phenomenal,” he said.
“I have loved working with him but it is down to me now to prove to him that I am the right man for the job.
“We are confident going into the play-offs. It will be a hard week, we will need to focus, but if we can do that then we can get the right result on Saturday.”
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