Wanderers have welcomed George Thomason back to training – but the midfielder will need a bit longer before he is available for selection.

Thomason has been out of action since suffering a knee injury during the 1-1 draw against Bristol Rovers back in December.

The 22-year-old had become an important member of Ian Evatt’s first-team squad prior to the injury, racking up 17 appearances in all competitions.

Thomason has recovered ahead of schedule after a specialist decided the injury did not require surgery.

But Evatt says it will take at least “a week or two” to get him back up to speed following his time on the sidelines.

The Bolton boss also confirmed he has no fresh injury concerns after Saturday’s emphatic 5-0 victory at Peterborough.

“Everybody is fit and healthy. It was also good that we were able to get some of the other players minutes on the pitch give one or two a rest to recuperate them for Tuesday. We are in a good place,” said Evatt.

“It was important to give people minutes and also we managed to give Dion (Charles) and Shola (Shoretire) a rest for half an hour. Kieran Lee had a bit of a rest as well, and Dec (John) and one or two others who have only just returned to playing on a regular basis.”

Conor Bradley is still suspended after picking up his 10th booking of the season, but Elias Kachunga has now served his ban.

The likes of Dan Nlundulu, George Johnston and MJ Williams remain sidelined, while Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Jack Iredale are long-term absentees.

The Bolton boss added: “We haven’t got them returning yet. George Thomason will be training again today but he won’t be ready to play for a week or two.

“As I said, it means there is a heavy workload on the players who are available at the moment, so rotation will be minimal.

“Sometimes that simplifies things and players can get into a rhythm, we will see. It is a really difficult month of fixtures.

“We are halfway through it already but we have got to believe for the next three weeks. It is going to ask a lot but if we can get though that relatively unscathed, then we are in good shape for March and April with the cavalry returning.”