Kyle Dempsey is aiming for a successful 2023 after starting the new year with a bang.
Dempsey crowned Wanderers’ superb 3-0 win at Barnsley with the final goal at Oakwell on Bank Holiday Monday.
The midfielder’s first strike since a double in his first appearance of the season in August followed a magnificent passing move and capped off a near perfect day for Ian Evatt’s men as they moved back up to fifth in the League One table.
The performance sent over 3,000 Wanderers’ fans home happy and Dempsey hopes it’s a sign of things to come for him and the team as he looks for an over-due change of luck in his Wanderers’ career.
“The fans were outstanding right from the very start and to score a goal like that in front of them I’m absolutely delighted. It’s such an incredible feeling,” said Dempsey, who will mark 12 months at the University of Bolton Stadium at the end of January.
“I had a terrible year with injuries and not really been able to show the real me.
“I just stripped back to basics and thought ‘let’s just go out there, relax, be myself’ and I know I’m a good player and it’s just about delivering that performance on a consistent basis and hopefully staying injury-free.
“For me now, it’s just about staying fit, continuing to work hard in the gym and on the training pitch and just keeping myself going and delivering performances like that and hopefully I can have a really good 2023.”
Dempsey produced arguably his best performance in a Wanderers’ shirt with a tigerish performance that helped the Whites get a grip of the game from the start.
A Dion Charles’ penalty and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s opportunist goal just before the break put the Whites in complete control before Dempsey’s goal provide a fitting finale to end Barnsley’s seven-match unbeaten run and whet the appetite for table -topping Plymouth’s visit to the UniBol on Saturday.
“I think we can take confidence from that. Just as an all-round performance it was really good,” Dempsey added.
“Everything we worked on during the week and everything we touched on we delivered. It was a really good performance overall.
“I think everyone today – the team effort – was just outstanding from the start.
“The front two were outstanding and didn’t give them a minute and then we were just nice and composed and it was about picking our moments.
“We’re a great side on our day and we’ve just got to deliver that on a more consistent basis.
“We know we’ve got a tough run of fixtures coming up and for us it’s just about focusing, trying to pick up as many points as possible and keeping ourselves up there.”