Forward eyes up first team return after Under-21s appearance
Max Clayton was delighted to make his return from injury for Bolton Wanderers Under-21s earlier this month.
Having been out of action since December 2014 after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament against Ipswich Town, the forward completed 45 minutes for the young Whites against Millwall, and even opened the scoring inside the first two minutes.
And after Bolton manager Neil Lennon lost both Zach Clough and Emile Heskey to injury in recent weeks, Clayton’s return could not be timed better with the 21-year-old now eyeing up his first team return.
“It was great to get back out there and to come through the 45 minutes unscathed,” the England youth international told bwfc.co.uk. “It was a fantastic feeling to pull on my boots again and to get back out on the pitch - to play in a competitive match.
“They’re all a great bunch of lads in the Under-21s. They’ve all got talent and I can see a number of them coming through to play this season.
“It was good playing upfront with Jamie [Thomas] and George [Newell]. They’re both tireless and work their socks off. They’re very good players and work really hard.
“They stretched the defence a lot which made it easier for me to get on the ball, so it was a pleasure to play up there with them both.
“It was great to score too, but I’m just happy to be back playing football to be honest. It was a good ball through from Niall [Maher] and it was a nice little finish. I was pleased with it.”
Clayton concluded: “It is very different playing football at this level in comparison to in the first team, so, especially with this type of injury, it is vital that I make sure I am 100% right before going back into a first team game.
“I need to be ready when I go back in. At the moment I'm feeling fit, so hopefully it won’t be too long before I’m back fully firing again.”