NO player in League One has created as many chances as Josh Dacres-Cogley this season, not that he is keeping score, of course!

If the jury is out on some of Wanderers’ summer business, then it is also fair to applaud the decision to bring in the former Birmingham City defender as the first-choice right wing-back, given his productive start.

Dacres-Cogley had spent the last two seasons playing in League Two for Tranmere Rovers and though he had been linked with a string of clubs – from Aberdeen to Bristol Rovers – Ian Evatt made sure he was at the front of the queue this summer to sign him on a free transfer.

His first Bolton goal was confirmed by the EFL last week, scored against Derby County, and he has also chalked up two assists, which makes him one of the most effective wide men in the division at present.

Dacres-Cogley won’t allow himself to get carried away, however, and though the praise has been nice to read he would much rather swap it for a few more points on the board.

“There is always room for improvement and things you can work on, no matter what the numbers say,” he told The Bolton News.

“I keep an eye on the stats a little bit, but I don’t focus too much on them. They sometimes don’t paint the full picture.

“I want to be involved in a lot of stuff, create chances, because that is going to help the team and be influential on all the games.

“I am happy with how things have gone so far but I won’t be fully happy until we are top of the table, and we’re going up to the Championship.

“We know as a team we can be better and I do individually too. There are loads of times when you look back at clips and think ‘I could have done more there, or been a bit quicker there’ and that’s just the way I am.

“I’ll take it one step at a time, get through games and try to create chances, that’s what the job is.”

Dacres-Cogley was given his professional debut by Gary Rowett at Birmingham as a teenager, pushing his claim under his successor, Gianfranco Zola, ahead of senior players like Paul Caddis and Jonathan Spector.

The Blues’ inconsistency in the league meant an ever-changing cast in the dugout, however, and though he featured under Harry Redknapp, Garry Monk, Steve Cotterill, Lee Bowyer and Aitor Karanka, the first team spot never stuck.

A loan spell at Crawley extended his managerial smorgasbord, taking in John Yems and Gabrielle Cioffi, before the decision was made to sever ties with he club he had represented for a decade.

“It was a big decision for me to move from Birmingham to Tranmere but I do think it was a necessary one,” he reflected. “I hadn’t played the amount of football that I wanted and I needed to take control of that. I couldn’t just wait around.

“It was about getting out there, playing more regularly and showing people what I can do. It has put me in good stead because I’m here at Bolton now.”

Whoever came to Bolton last summer to fill the right wing-back slot was inevitably going to draw comparisons with Conor Bradley, who had done the job so well on loan from Liverpool last season.

The Northern Ireland international won Wanderers’ player of the year trophy and improved his stock to the point that Jurgen Klopp was considering him a first team option this summer, before a back injury checked his progress.

Dacres-Cogley had done his homework but remains determined to put his own stamp on the position in the coming months.

“I was aware of Conor Bradley and that he had done well at Bolton last year because I’d spoken to a few of the lads and staff but I didn’t really think about it when I came in,” he said.

“It was laid out to me straight away that ‘this is what we want you to emulate but do it in your own way’ and I took confidence in that. I wasn’t nervous or feel under pressure, I just wanted to play my own game and listen to what the coaches were telling me, certain positions I needed to be, and the rest would take care of itself.”

Going back to his St Andrew’s days, Dacres-Cogley watched another talented young man come through the ranks, following the same route as his own.

Jude Bellingham graduated from the youth team and was gradually introduced to the first team environment during 2019, making his debut in a League Cup game against Portsmouth.

Dacres-Cogley, who also started the game at Fratton Park that day, recalls how he stood out at such a young age.

“I always try and keep an eye on what he is doing,” he said. “He came into the first team at 15, just about to turn 16, and he was unbelievable even back then.

“You knew he was going to be a star. You didn’t know where he would go – but you knew it would be wherever he chose.

“And you can see it now, he’s proving he is one of the best 20-year-old players in the whole world.

“I think I have said before, the sky is the limit for him – I think one day he’ll be one of, if not England’s best players.”

After 44 senior games for the Blues, Bellingham moved on to Borussia Dortmund in 2020, and this summer to Real Madrid, where he scored four goals in his first three games for Los Blancos.

Dacres-Cogley believes his old club deserve credit for nurturing the midfielder’s talent but that the player’s professional attitude will be the factor that sets him apart from the rest in years to come.

“I think with anyone it is a mix between the person and the club you are at,” he said. “I don’t think you’d say what Lionel Messi has done is all down to Barcelona, obviously he is a gifted player. I think it is the same thing for Jude, he has all the talent but he got the right coaching and steps to be able to do what he is doing now.

“He is also a very likeable lad. Even from a young age you could tell he was mature. He was 16 but he played on the pitch like he was 28. I think it all comes from how you are brought up.”

Bellingham joked recently that he had been given a “shocking” rating for his shooting, passing and pace on the new EA Sports football game – and his old team-mate Dacres-Cogley has shared a few laughs on some of the ratings within the Wanderers squad too.

“I don’t know who makes them up,” he grinned. “A few of the lads in the changing room have been kicking off about their numbers but it is all a good laugh.”