Ian Evatt felt Aaron Collins proved his value after his hat-trick in the 5-2 win over Reading helped reignite Bolton’s promotion push in League One.
Collins, who moved from Bristol Rovers in January for a reported £750,000, opened the scoring after 11 minutes, converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time and completed his treble 13 minutes from time.
Icelandic striker Jon Dadi Bodvarsson added a brace as Wanderers closed the gap on second-placed Derby to three points ahead of the Rams’ trip to table-toppers Portsmouth on Tuesday.
“Aaron is capable of magic moments and that first goal was a bit special,” said Evatt, whose side had failed to score in their previous two outings.
“He showed why we paid the money for him.
“With all of our January signings since I have been here, it is always the second season you see the benefit of them.
“That will be the case with Aaron as well. We have signed him for the long term and we know he is capable of special things.
“He is getting used to how we play. And he is playing within the structure more now which is good.”
Bolton had won just two of their previous eight games to slip out of the automatic promotion places, but their return to form puts the pressure back on Derby.
“The most important thing was the win,” Evatt added.
“When we perform like that we are a difficult team to stop.
“We could have got more goals which is a frustration. If it comes down to that we will look back on that second half thinking we had great opportunities and then conceded a sloppy one.”
Reading played their part in an entertaining game.
Lewis Wing cancelled out Collins’ opener while substitute Paul Mukairu netted in stoppage time.
Royals boss Ruben Selles said: “Every game we play, we try to play on the front foot to apply pressure.
“Sometimes it doesn’t work and we open up spaces, like it happened today.
“But it is the way we know how to perform. It is the way we can create chances for ourselves.
“The pressure was not effective in the first half of the game and we conceded a goal. We came back to 1-1 and started to play a bit more forward.
“The penalty before half-time was a big change of momentum. If we arrived at half-time at 1-1 then the second half would be much different.
“Even at 3-1 (down) we still created chances. But the fourth goal was the one that closed the game.
“We had one of the best opponents in League One in front of us and I am sure after that game we will be better when we adjust a few things.”
Brazil to host 2027 Women's World Cup
Brazil have seen off competition from a joint bid by Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany to earn the right to host the 2027 Women's World Cup.
The United States and Mexico were thought to be favourites to host the next edition of FIFA's showpiece women's football tournament, but they withdrew their bid in April.
They signalled their intention to focus on a bid for the 2031 tournament, while a South African bid for the 2027 event was also withdrawn last November.
That left Brazil and the joint European bid as the only contenders, and on Friday, it was confirmed the 2027 tournament will be the first to be held in South America.
"Congratulations to Brazil," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said.
"We will have the best World Cup in Brazil. Many thanks as well to the BNG bid, who have been fantastic."
The decision was made at FIFA's annual congress in Bangkok, becoming the first Women's World Cup to be awarded via an open vote of member nations.
Brazil – the host nation for two men's World Cups in 1950 and 2014 – garnered 119 votes to their rivals' 78.
Brazil had launched a bid to hold the 2023 tournament, only to withdraw it due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Australia and New Zealand ultimately co-hosted, with Spain beating England in the final for their first world crown.
Tuchel confirms Bayern Munich exit after no deal reached to stay on
Thomas Tuchel has confirmed he will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season after failing to reach an agreement with the club to stay on as coach after talks this week.
Tuchel took over last March and steered them to the Bundesliga title last season but Bayern will finish the current campaign without any silverware for the first time in more than a decade.
Bayern bosses had informed Tuchel in February he would not stay on for the last year of his contract and would leave at the end of the season.
But after several prospective successors, including Julian Nagelsmann, Ralf Rangnick and Xabi Alonso, decided to remain in their current jobs, Bayern turned to Tuchel to discuss the possibility of him staying on.
"This is the last press conference here. The February decision remains," Tuchel said on Friday.
"There were talks again with the club in the past week but we did not reach an agreement on a continued cooperation so we stick with the February decision.
"We did not agree but I won't go into individual points. That all happens behind closed doors."
The Bavarians, who travel to Hoffenheim on the last matchday of the season on Saturday, are battling to hold on to second place in the table and are two points ahead of Stuttgart.
They crashed out to third-tier Saarbrucken in the DFB-Pokal and were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, ending the campaign without a trophy despite spending a league-record €100 million to sign striker Harry Kane.
"The decision for me to leave was taken in February so you can imagine that my head, after processing, was 1000% behind that decision," Tuchel said.
"There was the theoretical possibility of a 180 degree turn now and the initiative came from the club.
"The reasons why it did not happen, I don't know, are minimal. Maybe the reasons are not clear, also for the decision in February, but it is what it is."
Klopp: Premier League cannot continue with current version of VAR
Departing Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp would vote to remove VAR in its current guise from the Premier League, though he also believes officiating standards are a problem.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that Wolves – who have been on the wrong end of several contentious decisions this season – had tabled a motion to abolish VAR from the top flight.
The club listed several "negative consequences" brought on by the technology's introduction, including an impact on in-stadium atmospheres, diminished accountability of match officials and its role in furthering "completely nonsensical" allegations of corruption from fans.
The role of VAR is now set to be discussed at an annual shareholders' meeting on June 6, though Wolves' motion is thought unlikely to garner the 14 votes needed to pass.
Liverpool were on the wrong end of perhaps the most high-profile VAR error this season, when Darren England mistakenly cleared an incorrect offside call on a Luis Diaz goal against Tottenham.
Liverpool face Wolves in their final game under Klopp on Sunday, and the Reds boss believes they are right to say VAR is not working in its current guise.
"I don't think they're voting against VAR, I think they'll vote about how it gets used, because that's definitely not right. I understand that," Klopp said.
"In the way they do it, I would vote against it, because these people are not able to use it properly.
"I do not think VAR is the problem but the way we use it is the problem. You cannot change the people, it's clear. You need them. So yeah, I would vote for scrapping VAR."
Meanwhile, it was also announced on Friday that midfielder Thiago Alcantara will leave Liverpool when his contract expires in June, after four injury-hit years at Anfield.
Thiago has been limited to just 68 Premier League appearances throughout his time with the Reds, including one match this campaign.
"Before he even came to Liverpool I believed that if you really love football it would make a lot of sense if you watched Thiago Alcantara play," Klopp said of the Spaniard.
"Technically, he is so, so good, a talent who could play in any team in the world, and it was a privilege to have him with us."
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