Big interview: Will Forrester
From stray cows to bottles of salad cream, footballers have been injured by all manner of weird and wonderful objects. But a games console and fresh socks? That might be a first.
Back in August, Bolton Wanderers’ Will Forrester was lugging his Playstation down the stairs when he tripped and fell on a newly-installed carpet.
The central defender broke one toe, dislocated another and eventually ended up missing the Trotters’ first ten games.
“It was literally the day before the first game of the season and I was due to start,” explains the 23-year-old, who came through the youth system at Stoke City and spent a season with Port Vale before joining Bolton in the summer of 2023.
Pain
“We were travelling down to Leyton Orient straight after training so I’d got all my bags and stuff ready to go.
“I got to the top of the stairs but we’d just had a brand new carpet fitted and it had a bit of sheen to it.
“I also had fresh white socks on because we’d just been given our new kit.
“Anyway, I slipped on the top step.
“I was carrying something called a Poga – it’s a case for carrying your Playstation – and it’s a pretty heavy bit of kit, probably 20 kilos.
“So that’s gone down, it’s pulled me down, and on the way I got my toes stuck in the spindle of the bannister.
“Initially I just got up like normal.
“But when I looked down I realised my toe was literally pointing sideways – then the pain set in!”
BEST FOOT FORWARD: Will Forrester has overcome injury to make his mark for Bolton this season PICTURE: Alamy
Horrendous
Much worse was to come when Forrester carted himself off to the local A&E department, however.
“I went to get the toe put back in, which wasn’t nice,” he continues.
“They tried like four times and it just wouldn’t go.
“I think it damaged some of the ligaments or the tissue or something like that.
“I had a little bit of the gas and air thing they give you, but it wasn’t doing much, to be honest.
“It was horrendous, the worst pain I’ve ever been in in my life.
“In the end they had to give up.
“I had to have surgery to put a pin in it to keep it straight for like four weeks.
“God knows what the gaffer thought when I rang him to say what had happened!
Frustrating
“It was so frustrating because I’d played a lot of pre-season and I really felt I deserved to be in the team.
“I couldn’t believe it.
“To be fair, though, the rehab was relatively straightforward once the pin came out and everything feels normal now.
“In fact, it’s the straightest toe I’ve got!”
Forrester has spent the rest of the season making up for lost time, and was recently named Bolton’s player of the month for February.
Competition for the prize was stiff.
The Trotters won all but one of their games last month after Steven Schumacher replaced long-serving boss Ian Evatt at the end of January, and were unbeaten in six outings before Tuesday’s surprise 3-2 defeat at Bristol Rovers.
Adaptable
It was a timely run that moved Bolton back into the top six for the first time since October and reignited their faltering quest for Championship football.
“You look at the players and we’ve got a hell of a squad for this league,” says Forrester.
“We know how good a squad that we’ve got, but we just couldn’t string a good run together.
“But I think since the manager’s come in, we’ve managed to do that and he’s maybe finding different ways to win.
“When a new manager comes in, especially mid-season, it can be hard to adapt.
“Ian Evatt was obviously at the club for four-and-a-half years, which is a really long time in football.
“Pretty much every player here was brought to the club by Ian, and they were signed to fit his specific system.
“But what’s been good is I think the new manager plays in a similar way.
“He likes to have the ball and be attacking and play the best football we can.
“He’s tactically very adaptable.
“We’ve played three or four different formations since he’s come in, whether it be a back four or a back three.
“We’ve also made little tweaks in games, which is something I think he’s really good at, and that’s been a big factor in why we’ve picked up results.”
Prospered
Players struggling under Evatt have also prospered under Schumacher, who won promotion from League One with Plymouth Argyle in 2023 before departing for an ill-fated spell at Stoke.
One of those is John McAtee, who signed from Luton Town in the summer after scoring 12 League One goals on loan at Barnsley last term.
The 25-year-old had netted just seven times all season prior to Schumacher’s arrival, but, pre-weekend, was riding a hot streak of five in six.
“In fairness, Macca has got to take a lot of the credit himself,” says Forrester.
“I think he’d be the first to say that when he first arrived, it took him a bit of time to get going.
“That’s totally understandable because the way that we played under Ian is really quite hard to get used to if you’ve not played that way before.
“It took him a little bit of time to settle in and understand his role but now he’s showing what a good player he is and how important he is for our team.
“Hopefully, he can keep banging them in and we can keep getting those wins on the board.”
ON-SONG: John McAtee, left, has become a key man for the Trotters
Playoff berth
With the notable exception of runaway leaders Birmingham City, that hasn’t been easy for anyone in what has become a wildly inconsistent race for the top six, can Bolton finally be a team who take a firm grip on a playoff berth?
“Hopefully, yeah,” says Forrester.
“But it’s such a tough league to get out of.
“Birmingham have obviously spent a hell of a lot of money and are probably going to win the title.
“But for the rest of the league, I think anyone can beat anyone, really.
“No matter where they are in the league, every game’s a tough game.
“We played at Shrewsbury (a 3-2 win for Bolton) a few weeks ago.
“They were towards the bottom of the league and that was probably one of our hardest games of the season.
“It just goes to show the standard of the league and why it’s so difficult to string decent runs together.
“The fact we’ve been on one in the last few weeks is really good but we need to get back on another one and have a good, strong finish to the season.”
Cardiff City
Omer Riza is proud of his Cardiff City troops
Championship
OLIVER’S SET FOR BIG STEP
