TEEN keeper James Trafford has continued to impress since walking through the door at Wanderers.
The Manchester City loanee has yet to finish on the losing side since arriving at the UniBol, and saw out another three points on Tuesday night with a mature performance against Charlton Athletic.
Ian Evatt had his say on the 19-year-old, who also saved a penalty in Saturday’s draw at Morecambe.
“I am pleased with his game management today,” he said. “I am pleased with his goalkeeping more than anything else.
“His attitude and character has been first class since he came into the building and we are really pleased with him. In fact, we are pleased with all the ones we bought in.
“I thought Kyle Dempsey did great in the first half and he gave us some energy. I think you can see what he is going to bring to the team.
“There is a lot to be positive about at the moment.
“The most important thing tonight is we won the game. We can debrief and look through the debris tomorrow and Thursday on where we can improve and where we can do better.
“But for me, fundamentally it is just down to energy and intensity and that is why we are going to need the whole squad.”
Evatt felt Charlton captain Jason Pearce should have been sent off for dragging down Dion Charles moments after he had been cautioned by referee Ben Toner.
But the Bolton boss admitted that Gethin Jones also got away with a first-half challenge on Conor Washington that could have warranted more than a booking.
“I cannot understand for the life of me why it wasn’t (second yellow) and it makes it even more obvious when they take him off immediately afterwards,” he said of the Pearce foul.
“I think the whole stadium knew he should have been off the pitch, but perhaps it evened itself up because of the Gethin one in the first half quite possibly could have been a red as well, so it is probably one all on decisions on the night.”
George Johnston pulled out of the squad on Tuesday after suffering a stomach bug.
“He has just had some sickness overnight and today,” Evatt explained. “He suffered with a sickness bug. We don’t think it is going to be a long one but he hasn’t been able to keep any food down so there was no way he could play tonight.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel