New Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Jack Bonham is excited to make his debut in the Greater Manchester derby against Wigan Athletic.
Bonham joined Steven Schumacher’s side this week from Championship outfit Stoke City.
Searching For Game Time
Bonham has been with the Potters since 2021, but hasn’t played regularly in the Championship for a couple of seasons now.
Stoke have Republic of Ireland international Gavin Bazuna on loan as regular number one Viktor Johansson battles back from injury, and Bonham found himself on the bench behind the young stopper Tommy Simkin over the last few weeks.
Mark Robins’ side also has former Manchester City youngster True Grant in their goalkeeping department, meaning Bonham has been restricted to just two EFL Cup outings this season.
That lack of action led to the 32-year-old signing an 18-month contract at Bolton as part of a goalkeeping shake-up at the Toughsheet Stadium, with Bonham joining young Fleetwood Town keeper David Harrington in switching to Bolton.
In At The Deep
Since signing on the dotted line at Bolton, The Bolton News reported Bonham’s thoughts ahead of his potential debut at rivals Wigan Athletic at lunchtime today.
Speaking to the publication, the stopper expressed his excitement ahead of the fixture and his confidence that his new side can secure all three points.
“Everyone’s told me how big a rival it is and how big the game is going to be.”
“But I think it’s a great opportunity to come in and make your debut on that stage, and I’m pretty confident we can get the win.”
“I checked the fixtures, obviously, when I found out about coming here and seeing how congested this month was.”
“But I think it’s a perfect opportunity to step into a game like that and just establish myself, start off on the front foot and hopefully the bad form turns around from here on out.”
Bolton is looking to get back on track after a run of just one win in seven, something that Bonham believes they can overcome, starting with a win over the Latics.
“I think if you look around the leagues, a lot of teams go through that.”
“We were just having it at Stoke and I think they’ve come out the other side of it now.”
“I think every team has a spell where things aren’t going how you want them to go, but it can turn really quickly. And when it does, you can really start going the other way just as fast as you drop down.”
With a strong rebelling crowd of 4,500, Bonham couldn’t have picked a bigger League One occasion to step out as a Wanderer for the first.