Dapo Afolayan says it is an 'honour' to be compared to Bolton Wanderers legend Jay-Jay Okocha and feels the goal he scored on the final day of last season has helped his confidence in the box.
Afolayan has been one of the huge positives for Wanderers this season and tops the club's goalscoring charts with 13 strikes in all competitions so far.
The 24-year-old joined Wanderers initally on loan last January and his successful spell ended with a promotion winner's medal out of League Two and signed a three-year deal at Bolton over the summer.
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Afolayan family is Nigerian and has admitted in the past that he would be interested in representing Nigeria on the international front, should that opportunity arise.
His performances on the pitch allied to his family background has drawn comparisons with Wanderers legend Okocha, who scored 18 goals in 142 games for Bolton in the early to mid-2000s in one of the club's greatest spells under fellow legendary boss Sam Allardyce.
Afolayan is hoping the 20 goal mark this campaign and believes the strike he netted on the final day of last season in the 4-1 victory on the road against Crawley Town has boosted his confidence on that front and helped this season.
The Wanderers attacker met Okocha this season when a team of Bolton legends took on the current team in November for charity and Afolayan has reflected on that meeting and says being compared with now retired star is an 'honour'.
He told FourFourTwo: "I've always been a dribbler. I like to think I can glide past players and make decisions instinctively - it's somthing I enjoy doing, especially when I can draw fouls and move us up the pitch.
"My family is Nigerian and I see myself as Nigerian, so Jay-Jay Okocha is someone I've looked up to my entire life - it was incredible to meet him when he visited this season. To be compared to him is an honour.
"I don't know about that (scoring 20 goals) - hopefully I can do it! There's no better feeling, playing at home for Bolton in front of 15,000 fans, scoring and hearing my name sung.
"Last season I could have had seven or eight - the gaffer joked about me loving to hit the post, because I did a lot! I'd be impacting games, but things weren't falling for me.
"I didn't let it get me down though - scoring on the last day of the season really helped my confidence."
