'He's come on a lot': Kevin Stewart details the progress Josh Bowler has made at Blackpool since Hull City days

The midfielder played with the winger during his time at Hull City, where Bowler spent the season on loan during the 2019/20 campaign.

It was deemed to be a largely unsuccessful spell for the 23-year-old, who scored only once in 31 appearances.

The former Everton man was initially hit and miss with the Seasiders at the start of this campaign, after signing on a free transfer following his release from Goodison Park.

The Toffees forked out £1.5m to prise Bowler away from QPR in 2017, a fee that could have risen to £4.25m.

However, he failed to force his way into Everton’s first-team plans and was allowed to leave for free this time last summer.

This freed him up to join the Seasiders, whose boss Neil Critchley was well aware of his mercurial talent from his days working in Liverpool’s academy.

While he dazzled Blackpool supporters early on with his mazy dribbles, Bowler struggled to provide an end product when he reached the decisive moment in the final third.

But the winger has since flipped that completely on its head, delivering consistent displays on a regular basis for the past few months.

After scoring just once in his first 28 league games, he’s since netted six times in eight games.

His form hasn’t gone unnoticed, with both Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest making efforts to sign him during the January transfer window.

Premier League sides Brentford, Leicester City, Norwich City and Wolves have since taken an interest according to recent reports.

According to Stewart, his teammate has always had the ability, but he’s come on leaps and bounds in recent times.

“I played with him at Hull and he’s come on a lot since then,” he said.

“You could see the qualities he had but he just couldn’t get going, so he was frustrated a couple of years back.

“It’s really good to see him flourish now and showing the quality he has. That’s the most rewarding thing as a player, doing what you know you can do week in, week out and I’m just really happy he’s now doing that.

“For me, it’s massive having a player like that in the team because I don’t like feeling like I’ve got too many attacking duties or needing to create something from nothing.

“I’m a defensive player, so I like just focusing on that. If I do my job backwards and serve someone like Bowler, then I can just focus on doing what I do.

“It’s probably the same for him as well, having me and Kenny (Dougall) in the midfield. He has defensive duties but not a ridiculous amount, so he can focus on what he does going forward.

“Having that balance works really well.”

Bowler will be looking to continue his remarkable form when the Seasiders host Swansea City at Bloomfield Road on Saturday.

The Swans were thrashed 5-1 by league leaders Fulham last night.