FORMER Wanderers striker Zach Clough is looking to relaunch his career at League Two Carlisle United.

The former academy graduate has signed a two-year deal at Brunton Park after leaving Wigan Athletic in the summer.

Clough, 26, came through the Bolton youth system from the age of eight and scored the winning goal against the Latics on his first-team debut in January 2015.

He scored 22 goals in 68 games for the Whites and was top scorer during the 2015/16 campaign. Clough again led the club’s scoring charts in League One the following season before being sold on deadline day to Nottingham Forest for a reported £3million.

Speaking last year, Clough said he had been having second thoughts about the move and had been asked to stay by then-manager, Phil Parkinson. But he was also made aware by the club’s ownership that the money Wanderers were about to receive would solve some of the ongoing financial problems.

“If Bolton were in a more stable position I would probably have spent my whole career there,” he said. “I was happy, it was risk free, and I was playing football with a smile on my face knowing that the majority of fans loved you. It was nice and that’s when you get the best out of yourself.”

 

 

Clough spent five seasons on the books at the City Ground but failed to play a single game in the last three.

He was loaned out to Rochdale, where his Carlisle boss Chris Beech was number two to Keith Hill, and also had a brief stint back at Bolton, where he managed a further nine appearances and one goal.

Last season he helped Wigan secure safety in League One, playing 13 times and scoring once, but was released in the summer.

Clough is now hoping to bed down in Cumbria and get his career moving back in the right direction.

“It’s just about playing football for me,” he said. “I don’t think the level matters too much.

“I’m just ready to take on the challenge here at Carlisle.

“The fact I’ve worked with the manager before was a big factor for me. I think he will get the best out of me.”