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Wanderers are confident they can get more ‘end product’ out of Paris Maghoma.
The Brentford loanee has made an encouraging start to life with the Whites, his direct midfield running style catching the eye in his nine appearances so far.
Ian Evatt believes there is plenty of scope for improvement, however, and is working with the 22-year-old to improve his efficiency around the penalty area.
Maghoma proved an influential force in Bolton’s 3-0 win against Salford City in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night but did not manage to hit the target with three attempts on goal.
And improving those numbers will be the number one aim for Evatt and his summer signing in the weeks and months ahead.
“We want productivity,” Evatt told The Bolton News. “I think goals and assists will be important for him.
“He can do an awful lot in the centre of the pitch, he can drive past people, create, link-up and combine but we need to add those goals and assists to his game.
“He wants to get there too, so we will work with him.
“He had opportunities (against Salford) and I think it is important that when things don’t go his way that he manages his frustration. He is a young player with an awful lot of talent.”
Maghoma was brought in from Brentford in the summer to help improve the ball carrying ability of Bolton’s midfield but Evatt believes all his players have areas of their game on which they are looking to improve.
“When you are building squads you want players with different skillsets and what we have tried to do is look at the squad in general and try to make sure we have all the bases covered,” he said.
“Paris does offer us something that not many of our other players do, he has that ability to drive with the ball through the centre of the pitch. Kyle Dempsey has that ability as well.
“It is a massive help to us when players can win one-v-one duels with skill and then get away with a bit of speed and intensity. Paris does that consistently.
“When you are building a squad in League One you just don’t get the opportunity to have players who have everything, possess every attribute you would want, or otherwise they wouldn’t be playing at that level.
“You need players who have different skillsets and then the higher you go, that is when they tend to have more skills all together in one. But what Paris has got, we like, and we think he has made a good start.”
Meanwhile, Dion Charles and Eoin Toal have travelled with the Northern Ireland squad to Kazakhstan for their Euro 2024 group game on Sunday evening following a disappointing 4-2 defeat against Slovenia which effectively ended their hopes of qualifying.
The Welsh squad, including Josh Sheehan, head to Lativia to play on Monday evening while Zac Ashworth will go to Lithuania with Wales Under-21s, hoping to feature in their game on Tuesday night.
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