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James Trafford doesn’t want to hear a bar about his future until he has finished his time at Wanderers.
The Manchester City keeper knows he won’t be heading back to Bolton next season but will be looking to do everything he can to make sure his team-mates are playing in the Championship.
The Blues – who are on target for the Premier League title and potentially a treble – could welcome him back into the first team squad as competition for Ederson or decide to loan him out to a top-level side, at home or abroad.
Trafford hopes to play for England’s Under-21s in this summers European Championships but is otherwise trying to shut off all thought of what might happen beyond the play-offs.
“I haven’t really had a thought about it – in fact I told me agent not to tell me anything,” he said.
“All I want to do is enjoy the last couple of weeks with Bolton. Even though I’m a loan player there is nothing I want more than for the club to get promoted and to leave on the best note possible.
“I told him ‘don’t tell me anything’ and maybe I’ll know from when the season finishes before the Euros. But if I feel like I want to focus on the Euros, I’ll say not to tell me anything unless it is something major.”
Trafford believes Wanderers saw the best of Barnsley on Saturday as they fought out a 1-1 draw at the UniBol.
“In my opinion, I think we saw more or less everything they have got to offer,” he said. “You know what is coming and they performed well. And they have performed their tactics better than us this season because they were higher in the league.
“We know what will come on Friday but it is our job to overcome it like we did in the last 30 minutes or so. If we do, trust each other and play fluid the way we can do, I think we have got a really good chance.”
Trafford has kept 26 clean sheets in all competitions this season, a new club record, including the 3-0 win at Oakwell back in January.
He knows another could go a long way to securing a place in the play-off final – or at the very least a penalty shootout – and with the defence now boosted by a fit-again Ricardo Santos, he hopes to add another shut-out to his collection on Friday night.
“Rico is a big player and a big presence, the club captain, and he brings out good things in me and other players around him, but I think MJ was brilliant when he has been there, or Will Aimson, Luke (Mbete), we have had some really good players at the back.”
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