THE bright lights and attention do not yet sit comfortably on Eoin Toal’s shoulders, yet his first season in English football could yet give the movie writers some ideas.

Not yet a year into his Bolton Wanderers career the 24-year-old has written a script with all the dramatic beats he could possibly have wished for after joining the club from Derry City.

Plunged into League One after Bolton’s captain was rushed to hospital, recognised by Northern Ireland for the first time, a Wembley triumph tinged with the sadness of injuring his ankle, and then a surprise comeback just in time for the play-offs.

Praise has been showered down on the centre-half, Armagh born and bred, but you do get the sense he would rather shun the limelight than be asked to put it all into words.

“Personally, I don’t really like the cameras and stuff like that,” he smiled. “I’ll leave that to other people. But this first season in England has been very good, I’ve learned a lot and experienced a lot in a year so I hope there will be plenty for successful times.

“When I came over I knew Bolton would be challenging high up in the league, challenging for the play-offs, and I knew it wouldn’t be easy to get into the team.

“I had to bide my time for a wee while because there are quality players here but then, thankfully, I got my chance at Christmas and it has all gone from there, really.”

Humble and polite in person, Toal has been doing his tough talking on the pitch, part of a Wanderers defence that has conceded just 36 goals, a joint-record for a 46-game season shared with Phil Parkinson’s promotion-winning team of 2016/17.

The habit of keeping clean sheets served the Whites well on their way to Papa Johns Trophy success too, and it was with solid performances built from the back against Portsmouth and Accrington Stanley that they got to display some of their swaggering best football against Plymouth in the final.

“We know it is going to be tough over the two legs of the play-off,” Toal said. “But I think that experience of getting to the final, a good cup run, I think that can help us in the long run.

“We are confident, we have been on a good run so hopefully we can continue that now.”

The return of captain Ricardo Santos after a thigh injury has also given a timely boost to the camp in an important week.

Whilst he only managed 45 minutes in Sunday’s 3-2 win at Bristol Rovers, his withdrawal at half time was planned and he is expected to resume training once again in the build-up to Saturday’s first leg against Barnsley.

Toal has won 11 and drawn two of the 16 games he has played alongside Santos this season and picked up plenty of tips in how to play any of the three central defensive positions in Ian Evatt’s line up.

He accepts, however, there are some things he would struggle to learn.

“Rico is unbelievable, and his physical attributes help,” he said. “It would take me quite a while to build myself up like that.

“But I have learned a lot from him, he has been brilliant, and he is always giving me wee pointers.

“When I am playing beside him, I feel safe and know I can push on because he is behind me. I think we have a good understanding.

“He is class on the ball as well. He is the whole package really, isn’t he? He has got everything, and he is a great person as well. He is captain of the football club, and he is a great leader. It is good to have him back.”

Toal had been out of action since Wembley – a challenge from Plymouth’s Sam Cosgrove he would rather forget all about – and with Santos also side-lined it fell to MJ Williams to lace up his defensive boots once again and slide into the back three from midfield.

Toal was impressed by how his team-mate played.

“MJ stepped in and I thought he was brilliant,” he said. “I said to him he looked really comfortable and composed in that position. It’s good for him as well that he is versatile at centre-mid and centre-half. I thought the lads were brilliant and picked up some god results. I had full confidence in the team.”

Off the back of Toal’s success, and with manager Evatt boasting some good contacts in Northern and Southern Ireland, there is a good chance that Wanderers will be doing more business in that part of the world this summer.

Toal had captained Derry at the tender age of 16 and played more than 150 games for the club before coming over to England. He believes there are other talents playing in the League of Ireland that could succeed over the sea.

“It’s a good league with a lot of young players,” he said. “I think it gets overlooked sometimes but there is a lot of young talent there and it is only getting better.”

After finishing his season with Derry, Toal joined Bolton and had made his debut in the Papa Johns Trophy within a couple of months.

Now that he is on the radar of Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill, who called him into the senior squad for the first time in March for Euro 2024 qualifiers against San Marino and Finland, the defender is happy to play through the summer for a second successive year.

“I haven’t really had any time off,” he grinned. “But I was never going to say no to Bolton when they wanted to sign me, and I’d never say no to getting called up to Northern Ireland – I just wouldn’t do it.

“It was brilliant to get my reward for playing here and being part of the squad with Conor (Bradley) and Dion (Charles).

“I didn’t play – and obviously, everyone wants to play – but it was a brilliant experience and the manager was great with me.

“I hope I can get called into the summer camp with a couple of games coming up and then hopefully get my chance in the future.”