EVERYONE is gutted for Stu Holden who faces another lengthy spell on the sidelines.

You feared the worst when you saw the deep gash in his knee after that clash with Jonny Evans at Old Trafford and it was confirmed yesterday that the injury is a serious one and will keep him out for six months.

It’s a big blow – for the team and especially for the lad – because Stu was having such a great season.

We’ve said it so many times: he’s dynamic, influential and covers every blade of grass.

Obviously I was hoping the damage would only be minor and that the international break this weekend would give him time to recover. But the news on Monday put paid to that.

Stu will get the best of treatment care and, as we saw when he made a full recovery after breaking his leg last year, he has the character to bounce back. The fact that Jonny Evans was sent off after the challenge suggests the referee thought it was reckless. But I didn’t think there was any intent to do Stu any harm – although you’d have to ask the lad himself.

Actually I don’t think he’s that type of player. I just saw it as two fully committed players going for the same ball. In fact, it could easily have been the other way round.

It summed up Stu’s approach to the game.

He is committed and brave – probably too brave for his own good on this occasion.

NOBODY would have been more disappointed than Jussi Jaaskelainen when the final whistle was blown at Old Trafford on Saturday – but it’s not right to attach any blame for the defeat to the man who has saved us on so many occasions over the years.

Jussi will probably be beating himself up about the way he conceded that late goal. He’s a top professional and, as such, he’s his own worst critic.

But the big man has rescued us countless times and, putting it bluntly, he owes us nothing.

The simple fact is that when outfield players make mistakes they often get away with it, but when a keeper’s at fault, the ball nearly always ends up in the back of the net.

They have to live with that but, knowing Jussi as I do, he’ll put it behind him and it will be forgotten by the time the Birmingham game comes round.

The fact that we came away from Old Trafford disappointed not to have taken at least a point shows just how far we have come this season.

A year ago we were fighting a relegation battle, now we are taking the Premier League leaders right to the wire.

In fact, we could have had all three points in the bag if Matty Taylor hadn’t connected so well with that header from Gretar Steinsson’s cross when it was still 0-0.

If he’d slightly miscued it or managed to place it either side of Edwin van der Sar, we would have been celebrating a famous victory.

THERE are four very good reasons for people to have confidence in the Bolton Wanderers Academy – Rob Lainton, Adam Blakeman, Joe Riley and Josh Vela.

The quartet have all signed new professional contracts which goes to show that if our young academy lads show they are good enough, Owen Coyle will give them a chance.

These four have got their feet on the bottom rung of the professional ladder and it’s now up to them how far they go.

They’ve had a good grounding at the academy – Joe and Josh have come right through the system since they joined us as nine-year-olds while Rob and Adam have been with us since they were 15.

They are all good lads and deserve their chance and I’m sure they will make the most of it because they have a great determination to succeed Rob Lainton is a prime example. A couple of seasons ago, the young keeper went out on loan to Burscough and it didn’t look as though he had a future at the club.

I had a chat with him and he was a bit down, but he worked his socks off and came back better than ever and has played his way to fringe of the first-team squad.

We still have our chats, usually when we make each other cups of team after games. He’s a level-headed kid and I’m sure he has what it takes, like the other three, to make the best of the chance they’ve been given.

The bottom line is that parents of aspiring young players can rest assured that if their sons are good enough, opportunities are there for them at the Bolton Wanderers Academy.