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Jack Iredale knows the pressure will be on him when Wanderers return for pre-season training later this month.
Ian Evatt’s side will reconvene in a few weeks to start another assault on League One and for the Australian defender a chance to show he is over the knee injury which has kept him out of action since January.
Iredale tore the lateral meniscus in his knee, which needed surgery, and despite getting back into full training by the end of April he was unable to play a further part for the Whites.
He watched on as Wanderers lost in the play-offs but now says he is ready to make an impact all over again.
"I might not have been able to make it back to help the boys against Barnsley but I've given myself the best opportunity to be ready to go for next season,” he said.
"It's been a difficult six months, because I felt as if I was just beginning to hit my stride and put performances together. So when the injury came it was at a really tough time.
"So this is going to be a really, really big off season for me, I'll need to prove that I can still perform at the level I was before I got injured and I'll need to get myself sharp again after such a long time out.
"But it'll be a case of seeing where we are and then getting back on the bike and going again, I can't wait to be back out there."
Iredale was Evatt’s first signing of last summer, joining at the end of his contract at Cambridge United. He did play 25 games in all competitions before the lay-off but missed out on the Papa Johns Trophy final.
Speaking to the Greenock Telegraph, he said part of the reason for signing at Bolton was to play in that sort of prestige fixture, and he hopes there will be more big games to come this season.
"I always set myself high targets in football, and to be honest walking out at Wembley or even being a part of a team to play at Wembley wasn't one of those goals, but when the opportunity comes up like it did, you don't pass it up,” he said.
"So to have been involved in a team that's done that, had the potential to do it a second time in a season and with a club as big as Bolton, is ridiculous.
"It's a bit of a pinch yourself moment because growing up they were such a massive Premiership team with Big Sam Allardyce and Jay Jay Okocha and the like. They've gone through their tough times and now they're on the comeback trail.
"I just hope I'm able to be a part of it and can continue to help them on their journey."
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