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Better than League One: A quick look at the star performances by Bolton's young wingers

Chris Brunskill/Getty Images

In yesterday's Capital One Cup First Round match at Shrewsbury Town's Greenhous Meadow, Bolton Wanderers fans were treated to breakout performances for Sanmi Odelusi (age 20) and Robert Hall (age 19). Their statistics are reflected in the box scores below.

Player

Apps

Starts

Mins

Goals

Assists

Shots

SoT

SoT %

G%/SoT

Hall, Robert

1

1

81

1

1

1

1

100

100

Odelusi, Sanmi

1

1

90

2

0

2

2

100

100


The two youngsters scored all three of Bolton's goal. In addition to that, Rob Hall also picked up the assist on Odelusi's first goal. He nearly had a second assist when his well-taken corner resulted in a Craig Davies header that hit the woodwork, instead of settling in the back of the net.

While crosses didn't show up in the limited box scores available for this early round Capital One Cup tie, text commentary credited Odelusi with putting in one cross while Hall put in three, showing that both are capable of contributing width to Bolton's attack. Having players that can add width going forward is always helpful in order to avoid turning the middle of the pitch into a sloppy bottleneck.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Odelusi's and Hall's performances was their efficiency. Every shot each play took was on target and found the back of the net. This level of efficiency is not sustainable going forward, but it does suggest that both players have some goal scoring potential in them.

The performance at Shrewsbury Town demonstrated the potential that Bolton fans have seen Odelusi show in the reserves and the performance that brought that potential to light with the first team, as well as illustrated why Dougie Freedman was so keen to bring Hall into the squad on a permanent deal. Both players were dynamic in the attack and contributed width as well as displayed goal scoring instinct. They also proved on the day that both are better than League One caliber, and that they arguably deserve a chance to show their class in a Championship match or two.