RICARDO Gardner has promised Wanderers he will wing his way back from Central America in time for Saturday's game at Norwich. The dashing winger, who capped a terrific performance with a sensational first goal of the season in the victory over Barnsley, is due to play for Jamaica in their World Cup qualifier in El Salvador on Thursday afternoon - just over 48 hours before the Carrow Road clash.

Flights have been arranged to get him back in England on Friday morning but Sam Allardyce reckons the punishing schedule will be too much for the Caribbean kid who is still on the comeback trail after a career-threatening injury.

But Gardner, who was boarding a transatlantic flight yesterday while his Bolton team-mates reported for the now customary Sunday training session, is determined to fly the flag for both country and club this week. "I'll be back in time," he pledged. "I don't want to miss any games now."

Since the game is purely academic, (Jamaica are already through to the next stage of their qualifying campaign) Wanderers had hoped to win Gardner's release. But they lost the fight and now Allardyce fears that, with the match kicking off at 1.30 in the afternoon on Thursday, he may be forced into a selection switch at Norwich.

"He'll only get back on Friday morning," the manager explained. "He may not even make it back in time but if he does you don't know how much the travelling will have taken out of him. He might be too tired to make the team and certainly won't be in any condition to play the full game.

"At this stage of his comeback he could well have done without it but you can understand Jamaica wanting one of their best players."

In the form he is in at the moment, losing Gardner would be a bitter blow. In the seven games he has played since his rapid recovery from the medial and cruciate ligament damage he suffered at Barnsley on February 26, he has not only proved his fitness but shown himself to be stronger - both mentally and physically - than he was before.

"The way he moves over the surface is a real threat to anybody who plays against him," said Allardyce, who is now using him to good effect on the right wing, as opposed to his preferred left side.

"Playing down the right is possibly his better position because he is able to cut inside onto his stronger foot. "The goal will give him a lot of confidence but he doesn't seem to need much of a boost these days. I said while he was recovering from the injury that he could come back a better player and a stronger character and that's how it's looking. He's more positive now. As a person, he's more mature. He actually joins in with the banter. He used to be a bit quiet but he's coming out of his shell.

"Because of all the rehab that he's been through, which would have been impossible on a day to day basis if he'd been playing and training, he's bigger, stronger and an all round better player and we're seeing the benefit of that. His quality on the ball is undoubted, now the strength of his body and the strength of his runs is making him an even bigger force than he was before."

Gardner, who scored in last season's 2-1 defeat at Norwich, could not have opened this season's account in more spectacular fashion - a sweetly-struck long-distance left footer that looped out of Kevin Miller's reach and dipped under the bar - or on a more fitting occasion, his first appearance against Barnsley since his injury.

"I just said to myself 'I'm going to have a shot right here'," he explained. "I've never scored from that distance before.

"It was a special goal because I really wanted to score in this game but what was most important was that we got the three points to stay in the top six. I've put the injury behind me now and I don't think about it any more.

"I just want to help the lads get as many points in the bag as possible. We have a lot of hard work to do to get into the top two places but I don't think anybody is running away with it."