By Mark Heys
September 27 2007

Goalscoring hero Stelios Giannakopoulos beleives Bolton's victory over Fulham in the Carling Cup last night could be the tonic they need to turn around their poor start to the new Premiership season.

The veteran Greek midfielder came off the substitutes bench in his first appearance of the season to fire Bolton into the next round of the competition and he says it could be the start of better times for himself and the team.

"This year, and not just because I scored last night, I have a big belief in myself and I could not have imagined a better return to the team," said Giannakopoulos to the official Bolton website.

In fact, other than last night,  the 33-year old hasn't featured in any Bolton squads since the start of the season and he feels a huge releif at being able to play first team football again.

"When I went out onto the pitch for the warm-up, I looked to the sky and said to God 'Thank you for helping me get back to doing what I enjoy the most in the world, playing football'.

"I want to get back into the team and I will do it. We all know we have not made a good start to the season but we all want to work hard to get out of this situation.

"Winning at Fulham was the equivalent of winning a Premier League game away from home and will give us a big lift for Saturday's match."

The former Olympiakos wide man turned down a loan move to Championship side Sheffield United earlier in the season after having surgery and it seems as if it was a wise move by one of the Wanderers most senior members.