BOLTON Wanderers' pre-season preparations were thrown into chaos today when their trip to Saudi Arabia was cancelled.
Wanderers were due to take part in the King Fahd Cup in three weeks but they have been forced to change their plans after the plug was pulled on the tournament today.
It leaves the Whites with a huge hole to fill in their pre-season programme. But assistant manager Phil Brown is confident the gap will soon be filled.
Sorted out
"It's a disappointment but there are plenty of games around that we can organise so it shouldn't be a problem," he said. "It's our job to make sure we get two or three games sorted out in the first two weeks in August."
Mystery surrounds why the Saudi organisers cancelled the tournament but they are looking to reschedule it for early next year, meaning Wanderers would not be able to take part.
Club secretary Simon Marland added: "We are obviously very disappointed that the Saudi authorities have cancelled it, especially at such short notice. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but it is obviously a situation which is completely out of our control."
One option for Wanderers could be to extend their trip to Valencia in Spain where they will be going next week for a training camp and practice matches behind closed doors.
Brown expanded: "We will have to make new plans but the important thing is to give the players the best preparation possible for the start of the season.
"We have been working hard to get a good pre-season sorted. The Saudi trip sounded like a good idea, we got our heads together with the scientific side of the staff and the preparation would have been spot on but somebody at the top has pulled the plug and we have to revamp the pre-season."
Whatever plans are made, the Reebok players will get their teeth into the task if their early appetite for hard work is anything to go by.
"The players have come back with a great attitude and willingness to work really hard," added the assistant boss.
"We've got a new fitness coach in Craig White whose background is with the Republic of Ireland rugby union and he has come in a lot of new ideas. He has finished all his testing of the players for things like fat burning, aerobic testing and body weights etc and he is going to hit the players with the results and work from there.
"The hard work is really under way and the players are showing they are up for it. We've got the Valencia trip which we might even extend, although that is in the early throes. Now all we have to do arrange those two or three games to get the players match fit which we will be working on sorting out now."
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