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One year into his Bolton Wanderers career and Elias Kachunga admits he has only had a brief window to show his very best form.
The German-born striker arrived at the University of Bolton Stadium last August with little pre-season preparation, having spent the summer weighing up whether to return to the continent or chance his arm in League One with the Whites.
Once he had caught up, four goals in six games during November provided an all-too-brief glimpse of the talents which made him so popular at Huddersfield Town in their unlikely run to the Premier League a few years ago.
But a torn thigh muscle – sustained after the club’s training ground had been closed for a week because of Covid protocols – interrupted his flow and his next goal would not be scored until Tuesday night, as he finished off a brilliant team move to add the second of the night against Salford City.
Kachunga believes he is now back in peak physical condition and able to show both Ian Evatt and the Wanderers fanbase what he can really do.
“It was good to have a pre-season from start to finish, being with the team the whole time and obviously now a year with the team, I think helping each other as well with my experience,” he said. “I feel good on the pitch.
“Obviously I had a really strong spell before I got injured, showing already what I can do on the pitch and how I can perform. I was then a bit unlucky with the injury but this is in the past now.
“I feel good, I feel sharp, I think I showed this (against Salford) on the pitch and hopefully I can keep performing like this.”
Kachunga’s window of opportunity may have been propped slightly wider by the absence of Dion Charles, who will be missing for the next couple of games with a thigh injury.
The former Sheffield Wednesday man brushed aside the significance – but hopes by playing so well in midweek he has provided Evatt with a reminder of his availability.
“It doesn’t matter if he (Charles) is injured or not,” Kachunga said. “I think I just want to show a good performance. I think today was a good start, especially with a goal and an assist, it’s always good as a striker to score goals, so hopefully I can take this into the season and score as many goals.
“For us, it was important to make the gaffer think what he can do at the weekend. I think it’s always better for him to not be sure who he can put on the pitch because there are so many top players. I think this was good to give him something to think about, but we have to keep pushing each other.
“You see we can change the team and different players can be on the pitch and the same performance is coming out so this is really good.”
Kachunga accepts that with a fully-fit front line, there will be times when every player will be out of the side.
“You can’t play every game, but this is why we have these cup games as well and if you keep winning, there are even more games so everyone can play more. It’s a really long season.
“I think everyone is looking forward to it. We had a good start and I think it was good literally from the start of pre-season all the players have been in, so it was easy to adapt to each other because most of the players have been already here last season so I think you can see this now on the pitch that everyone is working as a unit, as a team and I think this makes us strong.”
Wanderers look to preserve their unbeaten start to the season this weekend at Port Vale.
Although, by his own admission, Kachunga had “fun” playing in a free-flowing cup performance in midweek, he appreciates that 90 minutes on a notoriously taxing pitch in the Potteries may not be quite as enjoyable.
Confidence is high, however, and the striker believes Bolton can extend their winning streak.
“League business is obviously a bit different, so we go there just in the mind to get the three points,” he said. “I think we can go there with a big chest after these two games but we know we have to work hard.
“It’s not just coming from nowhere so we have to keep working hard to push each other and then I think we can do good.”
“Salford was a good game but it’s just one game. I’m looking forward already to Saturday and hopefully we can keep performing and take three points.”
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