DION Charles aims to show former employers Fleetwood Town exactly what they missed out on when they come to Wanderers tonight.

The striker enjoys nothing more than having a point to prove – and has been on a rebellious path since being released by Blackpool at the age of 18.

Fleetwood brought him out of non-league football with Fylde in 2016 in a deal which ended up being settled in the courtroom as the two rival clubs bickered over compensation fees and contract details.

But in two years at Highbury his chance amounted to just 68 minutes of football in the EFL Trophy, after which he had to start back over in National League North with Southport.

Since that disappointment he has averaged a goal every three games, moving on to Accrington Stanley and then to Wanderers in a £320,000 transfer that now looks a shrewd bit business.

Having become the first Bolton player to top 20 goals in two decades last season, the Northern Ireland international opened his account for the current campaign with a smart double at Cheltenham Town - and was yesterday being linked with Championship side Watford.

Seven seasons after he walked away from Fleetwood, Charles is enjoying being the Whites’ main man and has no problem reminding his former club of how far he has progressed.

“They never really gave me a chance,” he told The Bolton News. “But as I’ve said a lot of times, I do love proving people wrong.

“I have come a long way. And I put it solely down to hard work, a willingness to get to where I want to and self-belief.

“And since then I have scored more goals than every single striker they have had there, so I’ve already proved them wrong!”

Charles scored twice against Fleetwood at the end of his first season at Wanderers. After taking centre stage last term for both club and country, he is now challenging himself to go even further.

“I enjoy the pressure; I was brought here to score goals. And in every interview I do I say when you give me the chances I back myself.

“I joked with the lads this morning that when I get clear-cut chances I don’t really miss them. But sometimes it’s just getting them!

“The target is to better last year – it’s always to go one better. If I can get 25, I’ll be happy.”

Charles has scored a hat-trick at Bolton, taking home the match-ball in a 5-0 romp at Peterborough United in February – and with two first-half goals at Cheltenham on Saturday he looked primed to repeat the feat. Judging by his disgruntled expression, he would rather Ian Evatt have not rested him for the last 10 minutes.

“I did have a bit of a word, I said: ‘Gaffer, I’m on a hat-trick, you can be taking me off!” smiled Charles. “But the game was done, so we just have to recover right and then hopefully emulate the same sort of performance on Tuesday.”

Wanderers have made a bright start, winning their first three games in league and cup, scoring seven times and keeping three clean sheets – something which hasn’t happened since the turn of the millennium when the club topped the Premier League in August.

A challenge was laid down to the players over the summer to preserve their excellent defensive record – which has seen only Ipswich and Burnley concede fewer goals than Bolton in all four divisions during 2023 so far – but to beef up their attacking returns, which despite Charles’s best efforts, did prove problematic at times last term.

The results are impressive, and Evatt’s side have returned looking a leaner, faster and more positive prospect.

“It has been a lot of hard work over pre-season, everybody has bought in and now we are seeing the benefits,” Charles said.

“We have to be fit to play how the gaffer wants but we also have players who can come off the bench and really make a difference. You know if you run yourself into the ground and have to come off that it isn’t going to make the team weaker, it is still the same standard.”

After going top of the table on Saturday, Wanderers are looking to emulate their last promotion from League One, in 2016/17, by winning a third consecutive league game on the spin.

Phil Parkinson’s side strung four wins together – the fourth against Fleetwood – at the start of a campaign which would see them finish runners-up to Sheffield United.

But Charles echoed the words of his manager as he called for focus on the next opposition rather than the plaudits coming Bolton’s way.

“Teams like Cheltenham were our Kryptonite last season. We had to make a statement to everyone that we mean business.

“But it’s important we don’t get carried away, that we don’t get too high when we have done well and too down when thing are not going so well. There will be points of the season where we perhaps don’t get the results we want but we have to continue working hard and results like that show that the hard work on the training ground is paying off.”