24 April 2006, by Sean Gillen

Bolton boss praises Vaz Te

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce has hailed youngster Ricardo Vaz Te after the Portuguese scored his first Premiership goal against Charlton on Saturday.

Vaz Te’s excellent header set the Trotters on their way to a 4-1 win at the Reebok, and Allardyce feels the goal was long overdue after the effort put in by the 19-year-old forward.

“It’s about time because he’s had some starts and sub appearances where in every game we can look and review it and say he could have scored in every one,” said the Bolton boss.

“Maybe he should have got about eight goals to his credit by now. He’s always creating something and giving other people a chance to score but unfortunately hasn’t converted enough of them, so seeing him score today was really good for the team, and more importantly for him and his confidence.”

Vaz Te signed for Bolton in 2003 from Farense and has represented Portugal at all levels from under 17 to under 21. He was also named Bolton’s young player of the year last year, and Allardyce hopes to continue to nurture his young talent.

“Hopefully this will give him confidence and he can produce more goals. Ricardo is a terrific young talent and we want him to grow with us. He has genuine pace and that is not something we have in attack.”