Marlon Fossey made his debut for Bolton tonight a day after completing his loan move from Fulham. The American full back delivered an eye-catching display at Hartlepool United but it wasn’t enough to avoid a 1-0 defeat that saw Wanderers eliminated from the Football League Trophy at the third round stage.

The visitors were punished for some slack defending six minutes from time when Matty Daly pounced on a poor pass from Joel Dixon to round the goalkeeper and roll home the winner. But Fossey’s encouraging evening – his first senior appearance since his injury-ravaged loan spell at Shrewsbury Town was cut short – offered further evidence of the 23 year old’s improvement.

Fossey, thrown straight into the side by Bolton boss Ian Evatt, got forward to good effect in the first half. He created the away side’s first opportunity with a cross for Dion Charles, whose shot was deflected behind for a corner. Another dangerous delivery saw Oladapo Afolayan shot wide when well placed and Fossey also produced an important saving tackle as Tom Crawford appeared set to pull the trigger.

The home side switched their tactics at half time and successfully prevented Fossey from seeing as much of the ball in advanced areas but, after only a couple of training sessions with his new team-mates, this was an impressive first outing for the full back. Fossey could well make his league debut against Wycombe Wanderers next Tuesday.