Gary Madine hungry for more after Blackburn winner

Forward dedicates win to fans after netting winner in local derby

Gary Madine was delighted as Bolton Wanderers ended 2015 with victory over local rivals Blackburn Rovers.

The forward’s fourth goal of the season in the 77th minute clinched local bragging rights for the Whites as they quickly recovered from their Boxing Day defeat to Rotherham United.

Dedicating the win to the Bolton fans, Madine was thrilled to reward their loyal support with a goal and all three points.

“To be honest I wasn’t having the best of games,” the 25-year-old told bwfc.co.uk. “But I’ve sort of managed to grab the headlines by getting the goal. 

“Luckily for me being a striker, things can change like that. Hopefully there’s more of these to come.

“It was never going to be a pretty game. They’ve got two big lumps for centre-halves and Zach and I were getting smashed about a bit. 

“It was always going to be like that. We showed today how together we are as a team. It was a matter of who wanted it most and I think we wanted it most.

Madine continued: “The club isn’t going through the best time at the moment and we understand the fans’ frustration, but we’re working hard to turn things around.

“We were embarrassing the other day against Rotherham. I’d like to apologise on behalf of the dressing room. 

“We were all disappointed in ourselves. We let ourselves down and we let all the fans who travelled down, so this a late Christmas present for them. 

“We’ve not been good enough but the fans have stuck with us. Hopefully we can now turn the corner and get a few more wins.”

Madine, who could have ended the day with a brace having had an effort cleared off the line in the first half, is now targeting more wins and more goals in the New Year as the Trotters look to climb the Sky Bet Championship table.

“We’ve got a great result, in a derby as well," said the forward. "We now need to take this into Huddersfield and start 2016 with a bang.

“We’ve been in most of the games this year but have been pipped by a goal or two. We’ve not been clinical enough as a team and I know I haven’t been clinical enough in front of goal. 

“Other games where we have scored, we’ve conceded too many. Hopefully we can now get a bit more consistency and start turning teams over.

“I don’t think I was unfortunate with the earlier chance, I think I wasn’t very good. I snatched at it a little bit, maybe that's a confidence thing.

"But I recovered to get the goal near the end. Hopefully I can now go and get one against Huddersfield as well."

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