Defender offers his thoughts following his return to the starting line-up against Ipswich at the weekend
David Wheater was delighted to make his first Bolton appearance since August against Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon and praised Wanderers for their resilient display against Mick McCarthy's Ipswich side.
Coming up against a side occupying the second automatic promotion spot in the Sky Bet Championship league standings at the start of play, the Whites battled valiantly in a feisty clash at Macron Stadium, with the points being shared at the final whistle.
Lining up alongside Dorian Dervite and Matt Mills in the Bolton backline, the defender admitted that the point Wanderers acquired was definitely the very least they deserved from the clash.
“It was a tough game with a lot of balls flying into the box, but they’re the kind of games that I like”, said Wheater following the final whistle. “It was disappointing that we couldn’t get the goal to win the game, but we got a clean sheet in the end which was very pleasing.
“For me personally though, I was just pleased to be back in the side and playing football. It was a test for us all, but I feel like we did pretty well given that it was a different style for us.”
Featuring for the first time since Wanderers’ clash with Leeds United at Elland Road three-and-a-half months ago, the centre-half explained that although he has been left frustrated by his spell on the sidelines, it is something that has merely fuelled his desire to be out on the pitch.
“I’ve been training hard after my injury, and it’s just been a case of waiting for my chance and biding my time.
“Saying that, Matt and Dorian have done really well at the back together recently so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to break back into the team.
“It’s been a long time coming, but it felt really good to get back out there from the off.”
Pitting his wits against two of the division’s in-form frontmen in the shape of David McGoldrick and Daryl Muphy, Wheater was pleased with how the Whites coped with the threat of Mick McCarthy’s side from the first whistle to the last.
“They were a big threat from all directions – on the wings as well as upfront, but I felt like we dealt with them quite well and having the three big bodies that we did at the back shut them out.
“I think the result is definitely one that we can take confidence from – they’re up at the top of the tape for a reason, but they didn’t really look like scoring at all.
“There’s lot of games coming up though, and we’ve just got to go into them confident of getting results.”
“With any luck, if we can pick up some points over the next few weeks, we can head into the New Year on a decent run.”