GREG Strong was tipped today to bounce back after seeing his place in the Bolton defence come under threat.

Skipper Mike Whitlow reckons his fellow defender, criticised in the wake of Sunday's 3-3 home draw with Birmingham, has played well enough in previous games and will respond positively.

"Big Greg took some stick after the Birmingham game," the Wanderers captain acknowledged, "but he was up against Paul Furlong and he's not a bad player!

"I don't think he's been given enough credit for having played so well in the earlier games but I'm sure he'll bounce back."

Strong was replaced by Gudni Bergsson less than 10 minutes into the second half of the Birmingham game with Wanderers trailing 3-1 and he was expected to be relegated to the bench for today's game at Charlton Athletic, where the more experienced Icelander was due to make his first start of the season.

Colin Todd was only mildly critical of Strong after Sunday's game but explained: "He showed a little bit of inexperience. He didn't see danger and didn't smell danger. But I haven't harped on about it.

"We've been punished for mistakes and we have to make sure we cut them out. The players involved have got to make sure they don't make the same mistakes again."

Whitlow, who is fiercely protective of his team-mates, admits to being disappointed with results to date but he says morale has not been dented.

"We haven't picked up the points we've felt our performances have deserved," he reflected, "but confidence hasn't been affected. If we continue to perform as well as we have been doing, things will start to go our way. You never know what's round the corner."

Tickets for Wanderers' home game against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Sept 25 will go on sale to members on Monday and will be released for open sale on Wednesday.

Wanderers' Reserve game at Bradford, postponed because of a clash with Worthington Cup dates, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, November 3.

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