Bolton Wanderers and Charlton Athletic may well now be looking wistfully a division below them and at the form that Davis Keillor-Dunn is beginning to show at Sheffield Wednesday.

Following their promotion back to the Championship last season, Bolton have started their second-tier campaign reasonably well with The Trotters sitting firmly in the middle-of-the-table after recently collecting four points from trips to Wolverhampton Wanderers and then Southampton.

Steven Schumacher’s side conducted a lot of business in the summer and it all largely appears to have gone to play – but there will be a feeling that they may just be one attacker short.

As for Charlton, their second season back in the second-tier after they had won the League One play-offs in May 2025 began extremely well before The Addicks’ struggles in front of goal have taken hold, seeing them slide down the table.

To varying degrees, both Bolton and Charlton will both have reason to believe strengthening in the final third will be key in the January transfer window and both may well now be regretting having allowed Keillor-Dunn to depart Wrexham to dip back into League One.

Davis Keillor-Dunn is clicking into gear for Sheffield Wednesday

Having moved from Barnsley to Wrexham in January, Davis Keillor-Dunn struggled to make much of an impression at the Racecourse Ground with the diminutive and versatile attacker not appearing to suit the fairly direct style of Phil Parkinson.

Having missed out on the top six and the play-off places on the final day of last season, the still ambitious and big spending North Walian outfit continued to sign throughout the summer, knocking Keillor-Dunn into being a player that was surplus to requirements at The Red Dragons, despite coming off the bench in their opening couple of games of the campaign.

As a result, he was moved out on loan on the final day of the summer transfer window and the very busy Sheffield Wednesday added yet another star to their impressive attack under the management of Henrik Pedersen.

After a difficult time of it in his first couple of games as he tried to find form and fluency at Hillsborough, his performances have improved in recent weeks with a goal away at Salford City in the EFL Trophy being backed up by an impressive display as Wednesday hammered AFC Wimbledon by five goals to nil at the weekend.

Notching twice and providing an assist in his third start for the club in League One, Keillor-Dunn showed his true quality that many League One watchers are well aware of.

He was signed to be a difference maker in a charge for Premier League promotion just nine months or so ago and so it is a real coup for Wednesday and a signing that potentially slipped past the likes of Bolton and Charlton.

Bolton have been left short in attacking midfield

Having contributed at the back end of last season, including an assist for Sam Dalby’s decisive goal in the play-off final against Stockport County, John McAtee began this season very well at Bolton.

He deputised for the then injured Ruben Rodrigues on the opening day of the season and provided an assist in an all-round positive individual performance as Wanderers defeated Preston North End by two goals to one.

Enthusiastic and sharing a bond with supporters, McAtee’s more common frustrating level of performance and profligacy in front of goal meant that upon Rodrigues’ return to fitness, Schumacher was keen to immediately get the Portuguese back into the eleven.

When Rodrigues has not been at his best since then, though, it hasn’t been McAtee to step in but Japan international midfielder Atsuki Ito, who has notched a couple of key goals in victories away at Norwich City and then Wolves.

However, his lack of impact away at Southampton was more representative of the fact he has played more or less the entirety of his career as a defensive midfielder and so his use further forward is both indicative of Wanderers feeling quite short in that area and how Schumacher views McAtee, who has recently featured for The Whites’ U21 side but not made match day squads in any game since the international break.

As was the case when Bolton chased the game against ten-man Stoke City immediately after the break, Schumacher was keen to go to a 4-4-2 system, too, and so that probably relegates McAtee to very much on the periphery, as he has been for much of the last 12 months under Schumacher.

Bolton have been competitive throughout the season and have a lot of options out-wide as well as a few up-front but beyond Rodrigues and the admirable but out of position Ito, Bolton are now short in attacking midfield and a move for Keillor-Dunn would have appeared ideal, especially with his versatility to even test defences in behind up-front or even play out-wide.

Charlton remain desperate in the final third

Unlike Bolton, Charlton have not been that productive in the final third and also lack any sort of form from a ‘number ten’ or overall quality in that position, as has been much discussed.

In fact, The Addicks were even linked with a move for Bolton’s McAtee, such would suggest their desire to reinforce in that position both last summer and this coming winter.

The South Londoners managed to grab a couple of goals at Turf Moor against Burnley last week in a 2-2 draw to boost their goals for column but it remains a poor output with only three clubs having scored fewer than them thus far.

In Nathan Jones’ very intense and industrious style of football, flair players don’t tend to be too important nor shine but some quality would have been welcome at The Valley.

Keillor-Dunn may not have worked out at Wrexham but it is a major surprise that a likely Championship relegation-battler, such as Charlton, didn’t take a punt on the former Mansfield Town and Barnsley man.

As well as that, his form at Barnsley in a similar system to the 3-4-2-1 often deployed by Jones would have seen like close to a perfect fit. Instead, rather than Charlton having a versatile attacker yet to prove himself at second-tier level but surely with a high-ceiling, they lack thrust and incision in the final third as Wednesday, blessed with options, majorly benefit in the league below.