Local media react to Aston Villa loanee Samuel Iling-Junior in surprise Bolton win vs Wolves

Aston Villa loanee Samuel Iling-Junior made his tenth appearance for Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old winger joined the newly-promoted Championship side this summer on a season-long loan deal.

He's in a crucial stage of his career, having failed to ever make a competitive appearance for Aston Villa since signing in 2024.

Iling-Junior had spent time on loan with Bologna, Middlesbrough, West Brom and Pisa prior to joining Bolton this summer.

Now in his final season under contract at Villa Park, the former Juventus man needs to enjoy a superb campaign with Wanderers if he's to earn a new deal.

However, the early signs from the Toughsheet Community Stadium are that he's got plenty of work to do in that regard.

What was said about Samuel Iling-Junior in Wolves vs Bolton?

Tuesday night saw Bolton travel to Molineux to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship.

Bolton were coming off the back of a 2-1 loss to Stoke, but had won their previous two against Norwich and Cardiff City.

Steven Schumacher's side have made a promising start to life back in the second tier, but many felt Wolves would be too big a task for them.

They proved those doubters wrong though, running out 3-1 winners in one of the big surprise results of the Championship season so far.

Iling-Junior started on the right and played 63 minutes before being withdrawn, in what was his sixth league start for Bolton.

The Bolton News wrote: "Should have buried that early chance and found lots of space in the first half.

"Knitted things together when he had the ball but lacking a spot of confidence. 6.5."

So, did Iling-Junior's underlying numbers from Tuesday night back up his solid match rating against Wolves?

Iling-Junior could've been graded higher vs Wolves

FotMob gave Iling-Junior a 7.1/10 rating in Bolton's win against Wolves, and that feels about right when looking at his underlying numbers.

The Aston Villa loanee completed 20 of his 21 (95 per cent) pass attempts successfully, whilst also creating one chance and putting one shot on target.

He also played two passes into the final third, was accurate with one cross and his lone long ball attempt, as well as winning one foul.

Defensively, Iling-Junior showed what he's made of too, making five recoveries, two clearances, winning two ground duels and making one tackle.

Overall then, this was one of Iling-Junior's best performances in a Bolton shirt so far, and is something for him to build on.

He may have only provided one assist from his first 10 games, but more displays like this will surely see the goal contributions arriving soon.