Marv out to hit the mark
10:00am Saturday 11th August 2012 in Latest By Marc Iles
MARVIN Sordell wants to take out his Olympic frustration on the Championship this season.
The £3.2million striker has the bit between his teeth after limited chances with Team GB this summer.
It was a familiar story for the 20-year-old, who – much to the fans’ dismay – was forced to bide his time on the bench last season as Wanderers were battling for Premier League survival.
Now Sordell wants to make up for lost time and prove to Owen Coyle that he is worth a regular starting spot.
“The manager told me to go out to the Olympics, get my pre-season, and come back to Bolton fit and raring to go,” he said. “And I feel like that’s exactly what I have done.
“I want to be involved now and get playing. As a footballer that’s all you want to do, and especially because I went out (to the Olympics) and didn’t get as many minutes as I’d wanted.
“The only thing I want to do now is get out there and score goals for the club.”
Sordell is not short of company in the striking ranks – and one of the great debates on the terraces at present is which of the four strikers at Coyle’s disposal will be chosen for the crunch clash at Turf Moor.
Kevin Davies and Benik Afobe provide the main competition, with David Ngog racing to regain fitness after a back injury but looking an outside bet at present.
“I don’t mind playing alongside anyone, and we’ve got some very good strikers,” Sordell said.
“Benik did really well against Tranmere and he's clearly a contender now to be playing at Burnley, and althought David is out injured he'll be back soon.
“I've played up front on my own a lot of times too, so however the manager wants to play me, as long as I'm in that team, I don't care.
“That competition is good for the squad and if we're going to win the league then I'd think we'll need people pushing for the places.”
Even though he was limited to just one start and one substitute appearance for Team GB before their quarter-final penalty shootout exit against South Korea, Sordell insists he is better for the experience of working with some of the top talents in the game.
“I can now call myself an Olympian and can say I’ve represented my country playing football at the very top order,” the England Under-21s international said.
“I’d have liked to get more games but training with the likes of Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy, and the young players from the top clubs like Tom Cleverley, Daniel Sturridge and Aaron Ramsey, it is only going to help me. That’s the level I want to be at now.”
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