THE only thing that has surprised Dion Charles about his impressive start at Wanderers is how many people have been there to watch him!

With six goals in his last 10 games, the Northern Ireland international has quickly established himself as a favourite with the Bolton supporters.

And though he always backed himself to succeed at the UnBol once he had got up to full fitness, the striker admits the response from the terraces has been quite unexpected.

“To be honest I didn’t realise quite how many of them there were,” he told The Bolton News. “I am a local lad from Preston and grew up watching them and they get about 12 or 13, 000.

“Here, you can get 20,000 and I am like ‘wow’ because every single one of them have been brilliant with me since I came in.”

That Charles arrived at Bolton playing catch-up was down to a fall-out with his former club Accrington Stanley, who had effectively consigned him to the reserves for six months after he refused to sign a new deal in the summer.

Stanley boss said the “Mexican stand-off” had been caused because Charles went back on an agreement to sign a new contract if a move to the Championship – much mooted at the time – did not materialise.

The player, meanwhile, takes a different view.

“I was chomping at the bit to come to Bolton and show people what I could do,” he said. “There were things put out in the press about me that quite frankly weren’t true, so I had to prove some people wrong.

“When I signed here I said, ‘judge me by what I do on the pitch and not by what you hear’. I’m winning quite a few people over now so that’s nice.

“I knew I had to be a bit patient, and that is what I said to the gaffer. I just said, ‘I’m not going to be 100 per cent sharp, it’s going to come, but trust me and I’ll score goals’. He’s been unbelievable with me so far.”

The Bolton News:

Charles has won admirers at Bolton for his bustling style, which has summed up the higher attacking press Ian Evatt began to introduce when new recruits arrived in January.

Work-rate is worn as a badge of honour by the 26-year-old, who has played without fear since first arriving at the club.

“What is there to be scared about?” he said. “I have played in non-league and it is a fight every game. I am lucky to be where I am and got here with hard work. I won’t ever stop that.

“Defenders might think the ball has gone out and then before they know it I have nicked the ball off their toe.

“I have always done it. You have to work hard to be a footballer – that’s how I’ve been brought up. If you don’t, you won’t get the opportunities.

“My game is very high energy, causing defenders to make mistakes and I’ll act upon those mistakes.

“And I’ll give a bit to defenders. They do it all the time to us strikers so it’s nice to give them one or two back.”

Charles scored 20 goals in all competitions last season for Stanley and having made a positive start for Bolton, he fancies himself to stay on a scoring run in a team which has traditionally created plenty of chances.

According to data from The Analyst, Bolton have scored the most goals (46) from open play, have the third-highest expected goals, behind Oxford United and Rotherham United, and also trail the same two sides for total shots at goal.

The opportunity to convert those chances was one of the big sells for Charles when he agreed to join last month.

“I am confident in my own ability,” he said. “If I’m given chances in front of goal, I back myself to take them. At this club, the way the gaffer wants us to play - we’re free-flowing and a striker will always get opportunities in front of goal.

“I am coming off the back of a season where I’ve scored lots of goals but if you look back at my clips last year, they were individual goals. Here they are very well-worked team goals.

“And there’s actually a knack to it, being in the right area. You see so many people scoring those two, three-yard tap-ins but It is actually difficult to anticipate where the ball is going to go.

“I don’t think I’ve scored a tap-in yet but I will definitely take them. I’ll take a two-yard tap-in as well as I’ll take a 40-yard worldie. To me, they mean the same.”

Success with Bolton may also mean a return to the international scene for Charles, who hopes to be involved in the squad to face Luxembourg and Hungary in friendlies on March 25 and 29.

“I was in the squad in September and October, but I wasn’t in November due to not being in the squad in my club career,” he said. “But all I can do now is play as well as I can and hopefully get back into the squad with the gaffer watching.

“That (Bolton form) stands me in good stead to get a call-up. If I do, who knows but I’ll always be ready.”