Xavier Amaechi scored his first senior goal in Bolton's draw with Cheltenham Town on Saturday and manager Ian Evatt believes the best is yet to come.
Amaechi has had to wait patiently since joining Wanderers on loan from Hamburg in July, with a fractured metatarsal suffered in a pre-season friendly against Preston North End denying him the opportunity to debut until a 2-0 victory over Crewe Alexandra on November 12.
Evatt has tried to manage expectations and pressure placed upon the 20-year-old but was forced into handing the player a first start against the Robins due to a suspension imposed upon Oladapo Afolayan.
After scoring in that game and coming close on a number of other situations, the Trotters boss has challenged Amaechi to continue building up his fitness levels and become a hit with supporters during the second-half of the campaign - should his loan spell be extended, as expected.
"When we signed him, he was a huge signing for us," Evatt told OfficialBWFC on YouTube.
"He's got a lot of talent, a lot of ability and we've had to rush him back because we're so short on numbers.
"He looked tired in the second-half but I thought we saw flashes of absolute brilliance and that's what he'll give us.
"He has X factor and hopefully as he gets fitter and stronger he'll really push on for the remainder of the season."
Pos | Team | Pld | Pts |
1 | Accrington Stanley | 0 | 0 |
2 | Barnsley | 0 | 0 |
3 | Bolton Wanderers | 0 | 0 |
4 | Bristol Rovers | 0 | 0 |
5 | Burton Albion | 0 | 0 |
View Full Standings >> |
Who is Bolton's 2021/22 Player of the Year? | |
---|---|
32.58% | Oladapo Afolayan |
30.96% | Gethin Jones |
21.72% | Ricardo Almeida Santos |
5.51% | Declan John |
4.05% | Kieran Lee |
3.08% | MJ Williams |
1.78% | Joel Dixon |
0.32% | George Johnston |