Bolton Wanderers went for Amadou Bakayoko in the win over Wycombe ahead of Jon Dadi Bodvarsson owing to energy at the top end of the pitch and the Iceland international overcoming injuries in pre-season, Ian Evatt explained.
The Whites took the lead in the first half when Kyle Dempsey finished to give the Whites the advantage following good work from Liverpool loanee Conor Bradley. They doubled their lead just before the break when Aaron Morley slotted home from Dapo Afolayan's pass.
Dempsey added his second after the break as Wanderers ran out worthy 3-0 winners. It leaves the Whites third in the League One table after two matches so far.
Bakayoko started alongside Afolayan upfront and teed up Dempsey for the midfielder's second and Bolton's third goal. Bodvarsson replaced Bakayoko midway through the second half.
Bakayoko was one of three changes made from the draw over Ipswich, coming into the side for the injured Dion Charles. The choice was made to give Wanderers more energy at the top end of the pitch and cause Wycombe problems.
Bodvarsson has had an interrupted pre-season owing to injuries in that time which has disrupted his rhythm and only now is he getting back up to full speed. Evatt spoke in glowing terms of the Iceland international striker and his desire to help the team over the upcoming season.
Evatt told the Manchester Evening News : “We wanted some energy at the top end of the pitch and Baka can give us that. Jon has been nursing a few injuries during pre-season, nothing really major but enough for him not to get up to full speed. The last week, we’ve seen a significant difference in him.
“He’s a great man first and foremost and a great guy, a really lovely man. He’s really honest and we’ve been discussing his body and speaking about the injuries he’s been carrying because he just doesn't want to let anybody down. He loves being here.
“It’s kind of a home for him now and we know how important he’s going to be for us so we don’t really need to take risks when players aren’t fully 100%, but he showed what he can do when he came on and moving forwards he’ll be a huge player for us.”
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