Wanderers could be without Scott Sellars when they kick off a headspinning flurry of fixtures at Oxford United on Saturday.
The Bolton skipper is struggling to recover from the ankle injury he picked up in the early exchanges of the 3-1 defeat at Sunderland 10 days ago.
And with fellow midfielder Claus Jensen under treatment for a thigh injury that kept him out of international action with Denmark U-21s last Friday, Colin Todd's planned shake-up could be dictated by injuries. The Wanderers boss is determined to follow through his post-Sunderland pledge to make changes for the game at the Manor Ground, which launches Wanderers on an energy-sapping run of seven games in 21 days, which could make or break their season.
Today, he re-iterated his intention of making full use of his squad on a "horses for courses" basis, treating each game on its merits and selecting his side accordingly as he tries to regain second spot in the promotion race. "The one thing I will stress is that there will be no guarantees that the team I field at Oxford will be the same as the one that faces Stockport at home next Monday," he explained.
"With such a heavy schedule ahead, I'm going to have to utilise my squad in the best way possible.
"Even if we get a good win against Oxford, I'll still consider changes for the Monday game. Injuries won't help, of course, and with Claus under treatment and Scott Sellars still not out of the woods, I'll have to wait until later in the week before considering all the options." New signings Steve Banks and Jamie Fullarton have bolstered the numbers in training but Jussi Jaaskelainen and Ricardo Gardner are still away on international duty with Finland and Jamaica respectively.
Martin Doherty, the 20-year-old midfielder released by Wanderers, has a trial for Burnley in the Clarets' Reserves at Grimsby tonight.
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