MOTM: Bolton Wanderers 2-1 Walsall - Kieran Lee

After signing for the club in January, Kieran Lee has featured in 11 games for the Wanderers and is yet to taste defeat in a white shirt - 8 Wins & 3 Draws.

His signing was met with fanfare. It is very rare that a player signs for another club and there is an overwhelming response of love from their former club. Lee was a player I was impressed with every time I saw him turn out for Sheffield Wednesday, so naturally I was delighted when we managed to bring a player of his quality to League Two. The signing spoke volumes of Ian Evatt’s plans for the club and belief that he could still achieve good things this season.

His performances have been getting better game by game and his MOTM performance against Walsall was one of his best performances for the club.

The team performance was not at the standard we have seen throughout our current 12 game unbeaten run. I felt the week-long break may have disrupted the intensity that Wanderers had been playing at but provided a much needed break and rest to the most in-form squad in the country. The first half was slow, but the second half showed the capability and winning mentality that this team have.

I would love to see Kieran Lee’s distance covered statistics because it seems as if he just never stops running. His engine is excellent, admittedly much better than I expected when he arrived back in January. His intelligent pressing and movement off the ball really is a level above.

On the ball, Lee comes into his own. His passing statistics have been different class during his time here. Consistently we have seen his pass completion rate above the 90% mark, Saturday followed suit. 91% of his 53 attempted passes were successful, two of which being the final pass that lead to a shot from a Bolton player.

On 67 minutes, Kieran Lee scored his first goal for the club. After receiving the ball from Dapo Afolayan, Lee found himself on the half-turn on the edge of the box. He smartly opened his body, awaited Gethin Jones’ overlapping run and slid him in. Jones’ cross was deflected which forced Liam Roberts into a smart save. It was Kieran Lee who was quickest to react to nod in the rebound and open his Wanderers account.

A little over ten minutes later, it was Lee again that caused havoc in the opposition box. Some patient build up by Bolton found the ball on the left at the feet of Declan John. He played in Doyle who produced a smart back heel into the path of Kieran Lee who went down under a challenge from Mat Sadler. Doyle converted as expected and after a quick turn around, Bolton found themselves ahead. Although Lee may not have been awarded an official assist, Fantasy Premier League has turned us into believing that we should be counting that - so we might as well!

I wanted to see Lee add some goals and assists to his performances in a white shirt. I hope this is the start of a flurry. His partnership with MJ Williams has been top class so far. They compliment each other extremely well. I am looking forward to seeing how they deal against a very technical side in Forest Green Rovers at the weekend.

It is clear to see that Kieran Lee is playing at least one, maybe even two, levels below where he should be and I hope he can be an important part of our rise back through the divisions.

He seems like a top professional and an excellent influence on the younger lads such as George Thomason and Ronan Darcy, who could learn a lot from Lee’s experience. It is clear to see why the blue half of Sheffield love him so much and I have a sneaky suspicion he will be equally as loved when he moves on from here after what I hope will be a successful spell for both Kieran Lee and Bolton Wanderers.