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Jon Dadi Bodvarsson has revealed the extremes he has been willing to go through to stay in shape for Wanderers’ new season.
Keen to prove himself all over again at Bolton after an injury-plagued year, the Icelandic striker has plunged headfirst into his fitness routines over the summer.
Whilst some players have been stretching out on the sands of Dubai or Cancun, Bodvarsson has taken a slightly different approach to getting himself ready for a promotion challenge in League One.
“I like swimming – and this might sound a bit nuts but I do like the open water swimming in Iceland where the water is really, really cold,” he explained to The Bolton News.
“I love it. There is something about cold exposure and the feeling you get afterwards.
“I think there is some science behind it, but I don’t know the complicated words.
“I just know I feel better afterwards, and it is a great exercise as well, so it can’t be bad!”
Bracing hobbies aside, Bodvarsson knows this could be a big year for both himself and the club he now calls home.
The experienced striker had managed to negotiate a near 14-year professional career without having to undergo surgery but ended up under anaesthetic twice last season to solve a badly broken nose, and damage to his ankle ligaments.
The latter left him unable to take part in either the Papa Johns Trophy final or the play-offs, and though he has been able to train since April, he is now looking forward with more relish than most to the schedule of friendlies which kicks-off at Bamber Bridge on Saturday.
“I did come back in the last two weeks of the season to train with the team again but it was too late to be involved, so I have been keeping fit over the off-season too, doing everything I can.
“My ankle injury has not shown any problems, so I can get going again and it is all about getting match fitness in the pre-season friendlies.
“I just want to be back out there. Some people might not be looking forward to pre-season but I have been a bit giddy and excited. I want to get playing again.”
At 31, and with his contract up in the summer, the ankle injury could not have hit at a more inopportune time for Bodvarsson, who had signed from Millwall a year earlier and established himself as a big fans’ favourite with some important goals.
While his first six months were spent playing catch-up, to have seen his first full campaign restricted to just 27 appearances – and only eight starts in the league – was a huge disappointment for all concerned.
Ian Evatt remains convinced that the former Reading and Wolves man can be a “difference maker” at this level, and his offer of a new 12-month deal in the summer provided Bodvarsson with the just the incentive he needed.
“It was the easiest decision I have ever had when they offered me a new contract,” he said. “I had to sign.
“Mainly because I feel like I am on top of my game here at Bolton. Sometimes I wish I had come here as a younger player.
“Sometimes a career as a football player can be a bit weird. You are always looking for the right place to fit. The right environment.
“I did find good things along the way but Bolton has been the place for me. My family is happy as well, which makes it even better.”
Was there ever a Sliding Doors moment where Bodvarsson could have been a Wanderers player earlier in his career?
“No, unfortunately. I never got the chance!” he added. “I wish there had been that opportunity. I would definitely have liked to work with the gaffer as a younger player because he is a good man-manager and he can get the best out of you.”
After a heart-to-heart with his manager on the club’s return to the training ground this summer, Bodvarsson was told exactly what is expected from him between now and next May.
“We have talked, and when I first came to Bolton I think I hit the ground running and started to get some proper match fitness from January in that first season,” he said. “I felt like I was showing the player I can be, my confidence levels were right.
“The manager has basically told me that we need to get you to those levels again. And it has been tough because with the injuries it is hard to keep that level when you are in and out of the team.
“I believe that will come a reality. I just have to stay fit.”
Although former Southampton striker Dan Nlundulu has been signed on a permanent basis, Evatt is thus far keeping faith with the same striker options he had at the end of last season.
Bodvarsson’s return will be a boost – but the Bolton boss remains insistent that he can bring more out of all the players with time on the training ground, and with it some of the extra goals that could have made all the difference a few months ago.
Even the Icelander, now the squad’s second most experienced head behind fellow front man Cameron Jerome, agrees that he can progress further and is backing his manager to evolve the team once again.
“I feel there is plenty left to improve, always. I am never satisfied,” he said.
“I can sometimes be a sore loser, especially in training. It is like when I was 18, so maybe that can improve?
“I am always looking to improve and no matter what age you are, you should feel that way. Nothing is ever finished and there are always new ideas and experiences that you should open up your mind to.
“We know there is pressure on the team, on the strikers, to score more goals than we did last season. We are working on that and it is up to us to prove that we can do it.”
Wanderers came back for fitness testing and were whisked immediately away to Portugal for a training camp, where the first steps of Evatt’s promotion plan were explained.
Bodvarsson senses a renewed purpose among the players who know that they will be expected to lead from the front in League One.
“The gaffer and the coaching staff have been brilliant from day one here,” he said. “On the first day we came back we had a big meeting as a group about where we want to be next season – and we want to challenge, we want to be at the top.
“There is a good camaraderie, which is really important. Even in the training sessions, they are built as a team thing. When we are passing we are being told to communicate more, getting that winning culture to spread around even more. I am feeling really positive about things at the moment.”
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