Wanderers' latest goal-scoring hit Conor Carty has been given a ringing endorsement by manager Ian Evatt.
The 20-year-old striker scored at Tranmere in midweek on his senior debut and has already impressed staff with his penalty box prowess for the B team this season.
Signed from Premier League Wolves in the summer, the Ireland youth international has already caught Evatt’s eye and been drafted into first team training sessions.
“I think he’s got a bit of everything,” explained the Bolton boss. “He is physical, he is strong, he uses his body really well, he is quicker than he looks, mobile and his best and biggest asset is his finishing. He is deadly.
“You saw that with the goals he has scored in the B team so far this season, when you give him opportunities, he usually takes them. He has that great habit of shooting early before goalkeepers are set and I think that was really on show with the goal (at Tranmere).
“The ball bounced, sat nicely, he showed great confidence and technique but before the keeper can set, it is past him and in the net and that’s what he is really good at.
“I’m not comparing him to Robbie Fowler but that type of finish where it is a left foot clean strike that’s quick and no back-lift, he’s got that technique.”
Carty played five times for Wolves Under-21s in the Papa Johns Trophy but looked elsewhere in the summer after feeling he would not get regular football in the top-flight.
Evatt is careful of heaping too much expectation on his shoulders but believes the County Wicklow born striker – a prolific Gaelic footballer in his mid-teens – has got a good chance of progression.
“I think he’s got a bright future,” he told The Bolton News. “He has a lot of attributes and the most important thing for him right now is to learn, work really hard at his game, work on his weaknesses but also work on his strengths and make them even stronger, to then he has a chance.
“I was pleased with the goal (at Tranmere) but I wasn’t surprised because he does take those kind of finishes really well.”
Wanderers’ players have been given a few days off to recharge their batteries for a busy October, in which they will play eight games in all competitions.
Evatt’s side sit fifth in the table and by the start of November will know a lot more about their chances of challenging for a top six spot.
“I think so,” he said. “I think it’s the nitty gritty now. This is the real winter months, this is where you’ve got to roll your sleeves up, get your head down and grind and graft away. We’ll all do that and see where it takes us.”
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