Bolton Wanderers winger Filipe Morais has been named the Sky Bet League One Player of the Month for March.
His impact as a catalyst at Bolton has been stunning. Directly involved in 12 of Bolton`s 17 goals in March, he scored two and had an incredible 10 assists, the product of an innate sense of how best to deliver the ball into the box.
Bolton manager Phil Parkinson said: “We`re very pleased with Filipe as well with his award. I`d obviously worked with him at Bradford so I knew he was capable of producing quality moments in big games and that is what he has done.”
Morais said: “It’s always good to be recognised outside of the club and it’s been a pretty special month. I owe a lot of credit to my teammates for being able to put the ball in the back of the net though as that’s the hardest thing to do in football.
“Fleetwood away was a really big win for us amongst the others, but all I can do is keep striving to produce the same level of quality from here on in.
“Every game this month is important – every match is a cup final when you’re going for promotion. There is a lot at stake, but I enjoy rising to the occasion and I’ll be aiming to continue to do that.”
Sky Sports` EFL pundit Don Goodman said: “When a player is released at 31 years of age, as Morais was by Bradford in January, the pressure is on to show that they still have something to offer.
“Morais has done that emphatically since signing for Bolton, scoring goals and creating a ridiculous amount of chances, including all four in the win against Gillingham.”
Sky Bet Football Trading Manager Paul Lowery said: “Another of Phil Parkinson`s former Bradford City favourites, Morais` arrival coincided with a new attacking Bolton formation that is making the most of width, with several of their goals coming from crosses during the month.
“It was usually Morais delivering those crosses as he racked up ten assists and added a couple of goals himself, crucially scoring a late winner in the Northampton match three days before turning in a magnificent performance in the televised clash with Oxford.
“The talented Portuguese winger has boosted Bolton`s hopes of going up automatically and his side are now a skinny 1/50 to return to the Championship at the first time of asking.”
