DOUGIE Freedman is a Premier League manager in waiting.

That is the view of his number two, Lennie Lawrence, pictured left, who hopes the boss gets there with Wanderers.

While Lawrence is a veteran manager with more than 1,000 games under his belt, the Reebok Stadium job is only Freedman’s second.

But Lawrence has seen enough in Freedman’s ability at Crystal Palace, and now almost six months at Wanderers, to know the 38-year-old has what it takes to succeed at the highest level.

Lawrence said: “He’s got enormous potential. He’s cracking on at a rate of knots.

“He’s got that energy, enthusiasm and desire you need in a young manager. He’s a very, very promising young manager who is destined for the Premier League.

“Hopefully that’s with Bolton. We’ll be doing our best and I’ll be doing my best to help him achieve that. It’s that simple.

“Bolton is a great club with good people. We’re making progress and that’s the most important thing.”

Defeat last time out at Ipswich halted that progress somewhat after an unbeaten run of eight games and five straight victories.

It means the pressure is back on at Lawrence’s old stomping ground of The Valley on Saturday if Wanderers are to retain any interest in the play-off chase and bridge a five-point gap.

Lawrence, who took Charlton into the top flight in 1986 during a nine-year spell in charge, has already stated the team need to win five or six of their last eight Championship fixtures to stay in the promotion picture.

But he insists everyone at the club is just taking it a game at a time as they look to sneak into the top six after giving themselves a chance in recent weeks.

He added: “We’re not even thinking about the play-offs. We’re just focusing on getting a sequence of wins and seeing where that takes us.

“It will all get decided in the next few weeks but it would be nice to retain an interest.”