Kaiyne Woolery has breathed new life into Bolton’s unlikely battle against relegation from the Championship.

But the young winger will not be a stranger to the Sussex air should he get any chance to shine at the Amex today.

Woolery, snapped up from non-league Stafford for just £10,000, scored the goal which kept Wanderers’ surivial hopes flickering last time out.

He came off the bench and, in the second minute of added time, guided the ball home to secure a 2-1 success at home to fellow strugglers Rotherham which lifted his side off the foot of the table.

But Woolery is not a Staffordshire boy by any means. He was brought up in Kent and learnt a few footballing lessons the hard way in the very down to earth surrounds of the Sussex County League.

Current Peacehaven manager Simon Colbran was in charge of the teenager for about six months when they were at Redhill and reckons he progressed a lot in that time.

Whether he gets a chance to put any of those skills to good use at the Amex remains to be seen.

Bolton have seen their attacking options boosted considerably by the return to fitness of Gary Madine and Zach Clough.

But there might just be one or two spectators dotted around the Amex today who locked horns with Woolery a few years ago, even if they do not remember it.

Colbran certainly recalls the talent he had at his disposal after Woolery was recommended by the Elite Soccer academy in Kent.

He told the Argus: “Kaiyne was 16 at the time. I brought him to a couple of training sessions and he was excellent so we put him in the team.

“He started regularly and you could tell straight away he would get somewhere. He had to travel a bit to get to us because he came from Maidstone.

“He was one of those players who don’t seem to run, they just glide. Things seem to come so easy to them. But the truth was he worked. He strengthened up. He was quite a strong lad anyway but he got stronger with every game.

“He was the kind of lad who listened. When you told him something he did it. He was easy to teach. Some lads think they know it all. I’m glad to see him doing well. He is a really decent lad.”

Asked if he recalled any supershows by the youngster, Colbran said: “I don’t remember any particular game, just the fact that every time I played him he was a threat – at the age of 16, coming up to 17. People backed off when he got the ball.”

Woolery, who also had a short stint training with Horsham, made his full debut in Bolton’s last away game, when they came from two down to grab a 2-2 draw.

He was out there in the thick of it at crunch time when Wanderers backed that point up with a home win, sliding the loose ball into an unguarded net after Rotherham keeper Lee Camp had dived at the feet of clean-through Mark Davies.

That calm finish sparked euphoric scenes around the Macron and increased belief that the drop could be avoided.

Woolery said: “We’ve had points out of the last three league games so there is a good belief throughout the team at the moment, we think we can get out of it, in fact we know we can.

“We are fighting for this. There is no point thinking this is going to be given to us for free. We might have to work twice as hard as any other team.

“Brighton is tough but we believe we can get at least a point from any game we go into right now. We see every game exactly the same.”