Dion Charles admits he has not found the transition to life at Bolton Wanderers tough following his hugely successful start to life at his new club as he spoke on how his non-league background has helped to shape his career.
The 26-year-old became Bolton's first signing in the January transfer window after joining from Accrington Stanley, as Wanderers paid a transfer fee for the first time since 2018 to land Charles.
The former Accrington striker has gone on to score five goals in his first 10 games as a Bolton player and has captured the imagination of Wanderers fans with his performances and strikes as the supporters have found a new hero.
READ MORE: The Championship free agents Bolton Wanderers, Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday could target
Charles admits that his start to life at Wanderers has been 'great' and feels he is now back at his sharpest after not playing since mid-September for Stanley.
And he has labelled the support he has received from the Wanderers fans as 'amazing' as he looks forward to his next opportunity to play, which is likely to be tomorrow versus AFC Wimbledon.
He said: “I’m delighted. It has been a great start to my Bolton Wanderers career and long may it continue with goals.
“I am settling in great, it is like I have been here for years. The fans and the staff have been brilliant, I couldn’t wish for a better start, really.
“Personally, I haven’t found the transition tough at all. I am confident in my ability and said to a few people that I would be a little but rusty when I first came in because I hadn’t been playing but once I am fit, judge me by what I am doing on the pitch. I think I have won a few people over and proved a few people wrong.
“It comes down to me getting myself up to speed and working and doing extras in the gym to get myself to the level that I need to be at and I continue to do that.”
“We’re taking it game by game. Wimbledon first and we’ll look to impose our style on the game. It’ll be a different one to Tuesday night but it’s a home game so we’ll be at it.
“It’s amazing the support I was getting from the fans, but ultimately it’s the manager’s decision. He picks a team and rightly so and when I’m given my opportunity I’ll show what I can do.”
Preston-born Charles came through the youth team ranks at Championship side Blackpool before being released at the age of 18.
From there he went into the non-league pyramid at AFC Fylde and Skelmersdale United, before going back to the EFL with Fleetwood Town.
He then had spells with Halifax Town and Southport, rubbing shoulders with Wanderers legend Kevin Davies, before moving to Accrington.
Charles has spoken on how his time in non-league after coming through the ranks at an EFL club has helped to shape his football career and realise that he had to work hard to achieve his goals, with his release by the Seasiders as a teenager being the hardest of his two entries into the world outside of the top 92 clubs in England.
And the Northern Ireland international described his work ethic that has helped him want to better himself in his football career as he revealed some of the tips that Davies used to give him at the Sandgrounders.
Charles said: "The hardest one was the first at 18-years-old, it was like welcome to the big bad world. You’re in a cloud when you’re a kid.
"You don’t realise what’s waiting for you outside of football so it was a harsh wakeup call for me and then I realised that I had to work hard to get to where I wanted to be so that was the most difficult part for me when I was 18.
"When I went into non-league after Fleetwood I was confident in my own ability that eventually I would get back to where I wanted to be.
"It’s sink or swim. Like I said before, it’s a big bad world – those things happen. You just need to take every opportunity.
"I’ve come here and I’ve worked hard to get where I am. I appreciate everything that I’ve got around me and I’ll use that to make myself a better player.
"That’s how I am as a person - I’m never satisfied. I want more and I always want to better myself. If I score 10 goals, I’ll be angry I didn’t get 11. I always want to better myself.
“I’m a striker and I’ll always be greedy. I want to score as many goals as possible. I want to play as many games but if the manager thinks he needs to change it then that’s totally fine by me.
"I’ll show what I can do when I get the opportunity to come on the pitch and I did that on Tuesday (vs Burton Albion).
“I used to sit with him and ask him stories of how his career started and how he played and just take little tips off him here and there and add them to my game and it’s working out for me so far.”
