George Thomason's delight for Bolton Wanderers team-mate Josh Sheehan return

The Wales international made his comeback in the Papa Johns Trophy after more than nine months out with a serious knee injury.

Sheehan damaged his cruciate ligament in an FA Cup game at Stockport County last November and, after surgery, had been on a long, slow recovery route.

Thomason played alongside him in an impressive return against Crewe and is delighted to see his team-mate provide an extra option for Ian Evatt in League One this season.

“We’ve seen Josh day in, day out, work really hard, and the boys were absolutely buzzing to see him back out on the pitch and on the grass,” he said. “You just see him smiling and happy, he was absolutely buzzing when he played in the Papa Johns the other week.

“I know from playing alongside him and just to see him get back to do what he enjoys and does well was a really good thing not just for him, but for the squad because he adds another layer to us.”

Thomason earned plenty of praise for his performance against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, having retained his place in the side ahead of Sheehan, Aaron Morley and Kyle Dempsey.

The 21-year-old’s first league start of the season nearly ended with a goal – a second-half effort called marginally offside – but Thomason was happy with his day’s work.

Harry McGuire (Image: Harry McGuire)

“Every footballer will tell you they are their own biggest critic but equally you know when you have had a good game and I felt I performed well on the day,” he said.

“I have had the trust from my team-mates and everyone around the club. I didn’t feel any real pressure. I did have those butterflies in the stomach but I didn’t feel I needed to do anything other than my normal game to impress because I knew I had the trust of people around me.”

With victory at the weekend, Wanderers moved up to eighth in the League One table, a point behind Peterborough United in the final play-off place.

The top six is generally thought to be Evatt’s aim this season, though the Bolton boss has been less forthright in declaring it in public.

Thomason is happy to fly under the radar and try to establish some consistency in the coming months.

“It’s been an okay start for us,” he said. “I think we’ll probably look at a couple of the games where we could have taken more from them.

“There’s been in general quite a lot of good performances, maybe not matched with the results, but it’s an okay start and I’m sure we’ll be looking to build on it and really push forward. “Saturday was a great win against Charlton but as cliched as it is, you have to back it up and start to string results together if you want to play at the top end of the division.

“We’ll just go about our business. We know on our day we can get results against anyone in the division.”

The next week poses two very different challenges for Evatt and his side with Cheltenham Town first up at Whaddon Road (also known as the Completely-Suzuki Stadium), followed by a midweek trip to MK Dons.

Neither side have really ignited so far this season, with Cheltenham sitting third bottom having won just once in their opening seven games.

“Every team we face gives different problems, we can’t take anyone lightly, and I’d like to think we can go and take six points away from home in our next two games,” said Thomason.

“But we know every game is a tough game. It’ll be preparing for Cheltenham first. They have a small, tight stadium, the crowd will be packed and close to the pitch, so they are going to create an atmosphere.

“Right now they are down there but they’ll be fighting to get that win and we’ll do some more analysing in the week but we won’t be taking it lightly, that’s for sure.”