IN a whirlwind 18 months, Keshi Anderson found himself transported from the eighth tier of English football to the Premier League – and just about everywhere in between.

In February 2015, the Wanderers loanee was regularly turning out for Barton Rovers in the Southern League, earning less than £200 a month. A chance trial for Brentford and a six-minute “perfect” hat-trick against Crystal Palace later, and the youngster was on his way to Selhurst Park.

If you think Anderson’s fairytale story ended there, you are probably correct. Since signing professionally with the Eagles the striker has had to endure some tough times, including a badly broken leg sustained in a loan spell at Doncaster, before coming in search of a career fillip in the North West.

Things at the Macron have not run entirely smoothly, either, for the enthusiastic 21-year-old but he remains confident he can end his first full year as a full-time footballer on the up.

“I’m here until the end of the campaign and I’m hoping I make my mark with Bolton,” he said. “I’m here to score goals, and that’s what I’ll aim to do. With any luck I can help make this a memorable season for this football club.”

The stars certainly aligned for Anderson back in September when he scored on his debut for the Whites against Phil Brown’s Southend United.

“It was a dream start,” he told the club. “Although it probably wasn’t the prettiest of goals.

“As a striker you’re always on the move in the penalty box and once I saw the ball go up in the air, I just went in for a challenge with the keeper and luckily it paid off. They all count.”

A few weeks later Anderson experienced the mirror opposite set of emotions as he received two yellow cards to earn his first-ever red card at Walsall.

Phil Parkinson was critical of referee Trevor Kettle, who had issued the first caution to the striker for coming on to the field of play too early for sub Chris Taylor.

Anderson thanked his manager for back him – but admits with some hindsight that he should have known better.

“People can see it was a daft sending off and after the game I was absolutely gutted,” he said. “The gaffer was fighting my corner afterwards and obviously it can’t make a difference, it’s nice to know you have got people out there who are defending you. I’ll put it down to experience and try to learn from it.”

Anderson’s time at Wanderers is yet to completely catch fire and his one start since the Walsall game, at Rochdale, ended with a disappointing defeat. But with the mood picking up significantly since then the striker is keen to show he made the right decision opting for Bolton ahead of a clutch of other destinations.

The eight months he spent on the side-lines with a broken leg – sustained at Rochdale, coincidentally – have left the youngster feeling he wants to make up for some lost time.

“It’s such a big club with an impressive history and given that they had just come down into the division I felt it was a good challenge for me to help them get back up,” he added.