On-fire Celtic loanee backed to help team end seven year heartache as summer transfer chase revealed
On loan Celtic striker backed to shoot team into second tier this season
On-form Celtic marksman Johnny Kenny has been backed to fire Bolton Wanderers to a long-awaited promotion after scoring for the fifth successive game while on loan at the EFL League One side.
Kenny, 22, has been in electric form for the Trotters since joining the club on loan in February, and bagged his seventh goal of the season when he opened the scoring in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Bradford City at Valley Parade.
Currently third in the table, Bolton sealed their place in the EFL League One playoffs following last week’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Huddersfield Town, and manager Steven Schumacher believes Kenny is hitting form at the ideal time as they look to win the end-of-season competition and clinch promotion back to the second tier following a seven-year absence.
“I honestly think teams are only as good as their attacking players and if they are all firing going into the play-offs then we have got a real chance,” he told The Bolton News. “We’ve got Johnny Kenny with five in five, six in total. We’ve got Amario [Cozier-Duberry] back playing two 90-minute games in a row now, which is really important for his fitness levels.
“They are playing with confidence and that’s what you want at this stage of the season when they are all going to be so important to us. I thought Ibbi [Cissoko] and Mason [Burstow] were brilliant [vs Bradford] and we’ve got other players who can really make a difference.”
Kenny, who scored six goals in 22 appearances for Celtic in the first half of the season, was a major summer target for Wanderers. However, with Brendan Rodgers choosing to keep him at Parkhead prior to his resignation in October, Schumacher opted to bring former Dundee United frontman Sam Dalby, who scored 15 goals on loan at Tannadice last season.
“We knew when we tried to sign him [Kenny] in the summer that we needed a number nine with real pace in behind,” said Schumacher. “He’s proving us right on that, he’s been excellent. He [Dalby] had a little bit of a sore calf and a bit of a sore knee after the game against Huddersfield. We've had him scanned. We're not 100 per cent sure yet what the prognosis is but hopefully he'll be available for next week.”
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