Sportinglife - Andranik Teymourian's rapid breakthrough into Bolton's first team has taken Sam Allardyce by surprise.
The Iran midfielder, 23, marked his first start in the Barclays Premiership with an energetic display in the victory against Fulham.
He could now retain his place in the side to face Arsenal in an FA Cup replay at the Reebok Stadium on Wednesday.
Teymourian was expected to have little input after leaving Mashhad-based club Abu Moslem in the summer.
But he has shown rapid improvement following his brace at Doncaster in the third round of the FA Cup last month.
Allardyce said: "He has settled into the lifestyle a lot quicker than I thought he would."
Teymourian almost got on the scoresheet against Fulham, only for goalkeeper Jan Lastuvka to make a superb point-blank block.
"It was a very pleasing performance by him against Fulham," added Allardyce.
"He was very unfortunate not to score with a great effort after Nicolas Anelka set up the chance for him. The goalkeeper made an excellent save."
The match against League One Doncaster was the turning point for the player, according to Allardyce.
He said: "Ando got a huge degree of confidence from that run-out in the cup.
"That is showing in his game. He has excellent qualities.
"He has a really good engine, his passing is good and he also pops up in the box at the right time."
Allardyce could have Ivan Campo and Abdoulaye Faye available for the Cup game after illness ruled the two players out yesterday.
Meanwhile Fulham manager Chris Coleman admitted he is at a loss to understand why his side fail to hit it off in the north-west.
They still have two visits to make - to Wigan and Everton - after the FA Cup tie against Tottenham on Sunday.
Coleman said: "We are expecting two tough games - they are all tough and it doesn't come much tougher than against Bolton.
"But it would be nice if we got to half time either at 0-0 or 1-0 up. That has not happened yet."
REFEREES REPORT: A no-frills performance from Howard Webb, who rightly awarded Bolton a penalty after Michael Brown had barged Nicolas Anelka in the back.
FUSSY FACTOR: The official seemed a bit quick in giving Bolton's David Thompson a yellow card a minute after he came on for a challenge on Simon Davies.