The halfway point of the season is fast approaching for Bolton Wanderers but the season at The Whites may be drawing to a close for Thibaud Verlinden, with his loan spell at the club set to expire in January.
The 20-year-old winger joined the club from Stoke City in September and has made quite the impression at the club, with the Bolton faithful warming to the Belgian born attacker.
Thibaud made an instant impact for Wanderers, scoring just four minutes into his debut for the club against Rotherham United in September.
During his spell at the club he’s made 12 appearances so far, netting two goals and contributing two assists, helping the club to get into positive points in the table, following their 12-point deduction.
“Keith and Flicks have helped me a lot”
Verlinden’s parent club Stoke sent him out on loan to ply his trade at The Whites, and that’s certainly something he’s done during his time at the University of Bolton Stadium.
He Said: “It’s been absolutely brilliant everybody’s been really good with me, from the players to the staff from the people who work at the club, it’s been really good.
“I’ve played a few games now in League One and it’s a good experience, Keith and Flicks have helped me a lot, it’s been hard but a really good experience.
“I’ve learned a lot, it’s not easy at times but playing against good teams and players who sit back and for me that’s been good to learn.”
“My Advice to any young player is to get out on loan”
Thibaud made five appearances in The Championship last year for Stoke but says that his stint in League One has been crucial for his development.
“Last year I played a bit in The Championship for Stoke, I don’t think the difference between the league is that much, so it’s been great for me to be in league one and be able to learn.
“The difference from playing league and reserve football is so big. My advice to any young player is to get out on loan to do it because that’s how you learn the most, by playing games.
“There’s a lot of games left and in January and I don’t know what’s happening yet. It’s obviously up to Stoke and Bolton to agree or whatever they need to do so I can’t really say much because I don’t know myself, so we’ll have to see in January.”
“We’re working really hard to win that game on Saturday”
Despite his loan move drawing to a close, Verlinden is staying focused on his remaining games at the club, and says the squad is working hard to get a result at the weekend, following a 1-0 defeat to Peterborough last time out.
“I think in the second half we did okay, but I think we can do a lot better and that’s what we’ll be looking to do this weekend at home. We all love playing football and playing lots of games so we’re all looking forward to it.
“At this moment it’s important for us to be winning games and at the training ground we’re all working really hard to do that.
“It’s a big fixture for all of us, the whole team, the staff and we’re working really hard to win that game on Saturday.
“We’re always looking to win games whether were playing the big teams or the small teams, there’s no small games for us where were at now so it’s important that we win that one on Saturday.”
Thibaud and Bolton take on Southend United this Saturday at the University of Bolton Stadium.