NATHAN Delfouneso says he will be going all out to repay Ian Evatt’s faith at Wanderers this season.

The former Blackpool striker was reunited with ex-Bloomfield Road team-mate Ian Evatt yesterday in another eye-catching deal which has turned heads in League Two.

Delfouneso helped the Seasiders out of the division via the play-offs in 2017 and has been drafted in to partner up with Eoin Doyle in an appetising Bolton attack.

“He’s told me to come in and play, enjoy it, and do what I do,” Delfouneso said of his new boss.

“I have played with him, so he knows me as a person. I know him too and I have followed how he has done, I was buzzing for him when he got promotion with Barrow.

“When an opportunity to come here came up for him I was delighted because he really deserved it.

“When I spoke to him, everything they said to me was reassuring. All I can do is try and repay that faith and I’ve got the utmost faith I can do.

Evatt and Delfouneso played together at Blackpool in 2012/13 and though the striker admitted his moved to Bolton was somewhat unexpected, he is delighted to have got the call to help Bolton bounce back immediately after relegation.

“The love that the club has shown me, from the gaffer to Tobias (Phoenix) and everyone who has been involved is something that a player can only dream of, so I hope I can repay that faith and do some good on the pitch,” he said.

“There have been tough times for the club over the last few years but hopefully now with what’s ahead we can start moving in the right direction.”

Delfouneso has played against Wanderers in the Premier League on three occasions during his days with Aston Villa and he still finds it difficult to see them playing in the fourth tier of English football.

“When I was young Bolton were in Europe and you look at the calibre of players they used to have here – Jay Jay Okocha, Nicolas Anelka, Campo, Hierro, we’re talking international world class players who have played here,” he said.

“Every club has their time – but this was a massive club for me growing up and it’s still one that should be playing higher up. That’s my target individually and I know the boys collectively want to get this team back up the pyramid.”

Wanderers are still 36 days off the scheduled start of the League Two season and will be fitting in five to six friendly games behind closed doors to get players as sharp as they possibly can be.

Delfouneso believes there is a responsibility on the whole club now to pull in the same direction to ensure a successful start.

“I look at it and think it’s a club that shouldn’t be in the position it is in. But it has found itself in the position it is in,” he said.

“Now it is down to us as a collective – staff, players, everyone involved – to come together and get this club back to where it belongs at the top of the pyramid.

“Football is unpredictable but we’re in this position now, it’s down to us to push it back in the right direction.

“Every game will be tough so we have to be right physically, mentally, technically and tactically to get out on the pitch.”