JOE Mason gave a shy shake of the head when asked if he knew the name Fredi Bobic, perhaps wondering why the German’s name was being brought up in conversation.

Clutching a match-ball scrawled with messages of congratulations from his team-mates, you get the feeling the 23-year-old striker had not had a chance for his first senior hat-trick to sink in, let alone engage in a history lesson.

In fairness, the Devon-born youngster was still in primary school when Bobic enjoyed his finest hour against Ipswich Town back in 2002.

But in grabbing the headlines against Rotherham United on Tuesday night he joined an exclusive club of 62 players in Wanderers’ history to have scored three goals in the same game.

We had waited 12 years to celebrate the newest inductee – even though technically, the last Bolton-owned hat-trick scorer remains Dean Holdsworth.

But the youngster, who like Bobic is only on a temporary loan, was no less delighted to have earned a first win of the season for the Whites.

“It makes me proud to get a hat-trick for the club; it’s the first hat-trick of my career so it is onwards and upwards,” he said. “Hopefully it’s the first of many.”

As much as Mason’s hat-trick banished a long-standing statistic from the record books, it also provided a most welcome boost for a club that has had little to cheer about this season.

Six games in and the knives were out for manager Dougie Freedman, who must have wondered what the week would have in store for him with his side 1-0 down at half time.

In the end, the player he has signed three separate times on loan from the Bluebirds settled the game with three clinical finishes – even if Mason’s team-mates were determined to remind him of the ones that got away.

“The first things the lads said ‘you should have had five’ especially with the one at the end,” he said. “It wasn’t a good finish at all. I will go to bed tonight thinking I should have had five but I have got to be happy with three.

“We knew before the game about the record we had last year not winning (for 10 games), and we didn’t want to go that far again this season. But we showed a lot of character and dug in and hopefully we can build on that for the rest of the season.

“I was getting a bit anxious because I’d gone about four games without scoring so to get three is a relief but also gives me massive confidence.”

Though Mason grabbed the attention, he was quick to acknowledge the input of his strike partner on the night, Craig Davies.

The Wales international continued his renaissance with another action-packed performance that drew praise from fans and team-mates alike.

“I have scored the goals but Craig deserves a lot of credit because he has done as much, if not more, than me,” Mason said. “He should get a mention for what he put into the game.”

Mason hopes Tuesday’s win – the first since April in the league – can lift some of the pressure on the players and see them start to climb the Championship table.

Wolves are next up, and the former Republic of Ireland Under-21 international sees no reason why Wanderers should not make it back-to-back victories.

“I think Rotherham have beaten Wolves this season, so there is no reason why we can’t do the same,” he said. “All we needed was that first win. Like last year, we went on a run and I am sure we are going to do that again.

“We haven’t had the results we should have had this season; maybe through our own fault. But we got this win and it is a massive confidence boost. It’s also two games unbeaten so it’s a platform to build on.

“There is loads of banter flying around in there now and that’s exactly what it should be like. We are buzzing now.”