Dion Charles 'punches above his weight' as Bolton January signing delivers what Wanderers expect

Ian Evatt admits he would hate to play against Dion Charles as he believes the January transfer window signing has delivered precisely what he expected him to after joining Bolton Wanderers.

The striker became the first player Wanderers had spent a transfer fee on since 2018 when he joined at the start of the January transfer window from Accrington Stanley.

He has since scored four goals for Wanderers and become the new man to lead the line for Bolton after the departure of Eoin Doyle.

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His latest goal came against Charlton Athletic where his workrate and endeavour lead to him getting the better of Akin Famewo and rounding Craig MacGillivray to give the hosts the lead in an eventual 2-1 victory.

Evatt knows Charles from his time at Blackpool when the striker was a youngster and admits he would not relish the prospect of playing against the Northern Ireland international with his terrier-like abilities to hound defenders, not give them a moment's peace and force them into errors.

He said: “The thing is with Dion, once you let the ball bounce, you’re in a world of trouble and I think tonight, especially first half (against Charlton) we were slightly more direct at times, but if you’re having joy from it and they’re so high up the pitch, why would you not utilise it?

“I keep saying to the players we’re not a football team for vanity, we don’t do it to make ourselves look good. We do it for a purpose and if the game’s giving you that ball in behind with the strikers we’ve now got, just do it. Why not? Why wouldn’t you utilise his pace and that got us the goal.

"Just the harassment and a couple of other times