Bolton Wanderers hope to keep West Ham United loanee Oladapo Afolayan at the League Two club for the long term, Ian Evatt has said.
The 23-year-old old attacker was one of eight signings made by Wanderers in the January transfer window.
He arrived on loan on deadline day from the Premier League club and has impressed in his time so far at the University of Bolton Stadium.
He has played eight times for the Trotters so far, including seven starts in succession as Wanderers have climbed up the League Two table and into the play-off positions.
Afolayan's contract with the London Stadium outfit expires this summer.
And Wanderers would like to keep the forward with the club for the long term, Evatt has said.
He said: "He's a good player. He's a good young player with a lot of talent and a lot of ability. His work ethic is there as well.
"He's a bright one for the future and hopefully we can keep him at Bolton Wanderers for the long term, that's what we want to do."
In the draw against Bradford City over the weekend, Afolayan did just as much in the final third as he did at the other end of the pitch, tracking back and closing down to help out with defensive duties.
And Evatt revealed it was that side of his game is part of the reason why he opted to start Afolayan against the Bantams.
He said: "You have to do that job, especially away from home. You have to do that job for the team and you have to put in that graft both sides of the game, attack and defence and Dapo did that great.
"Lloyd (Isgrove) played against Bradford for that reason as well. He put in a great shift and got a bit of a tight hamstring at the end there.
"I don't think there's anyone who watched that game or was here could say that we didn't deserve to win the game.
"We were fantastic, but we'll dust ourselves down and go again on Tuesday."