DONCASTER WERE PLUNGED deeper into relegation trouble by their former player and Irish midfielder Kieran Sadlier last Friday as his second-half goal secured a 2-1 victory. 

Republic of Ireland underage international Mipo Odubeko, who joined Doncaster Rovers on loan from West Ham, cancelled out Amadou Bakayoko’s strike before Sadlier scored the crucial goal. 

📐 Another angle of @KieranSadlier's winning goal...

🎞️ 55 seconds of pure content. pic.twitter.com/xjGljc8Vcv

— Bolton Wanderers (@OfficialBWFC) April 16, 2022

The 27-year-old midfielder signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the League One side in January, who have been chasing his signature for some time. Manager Ian Evatt was pleased with how Sadlier handled challenging conditions. 

“What I’ve learnt in football is when opposition fans are giving you the bird, it normally means that you’re a very good player and they’re pretty scared that you’re coming back and doing the business and I think providing he does his talking with the football, which he did with that goal, then no problem,” he told the Manchester Evening News. 

“That’s the game. I’ve said many times that this is a game when you’re professional athletes or staff, you’re going to get stick and sometimes, providing it’s light-hearted, it’s acceptable.

“It’s the nature of the beast, but when it goes personal and over the line, that’s when we’ll stand up, but I thought it was light-hearted and you’re going to get some stick, but I thought he answered them the correct way.”

Evatt went on to praise the former U21 international’s tactical flexibility after he operated as a wing-back in recent weeks. 

“The reason we did buy him and got him in January was because he gives us that flexibility. He can play so many positions that we can move him and rotate him around the pitch as and when we see fit.”