NATHAN Baxter is already struck by the quality of Wanderers’ pre-season preparations, admitting they would not look out of place in the Premier League.

The former Chelsea keeper worked with some of the very best in his time at Stamford Bridge but says he is just as impressed by what he has seen during the Whites’ training camp in Portugal.

Baxter turned down more lucrative moves to sign permanently with Wanderers this month, pooling opinions from several former coaches and team-mates who have played at the club.

And based on the evidence of his first week back in training, he is happy with the choice made.

“I have been very lucky in my career and done trips like this in pre-season with Antonio Conte and with Frank Lampard, top guys, and from what I have experienced so far at Bolton and with Ian Evatt, he is on par with those guys,” he told The Bolton News.

“It doesn’t feel like an EFL pre-season to me. It feels like what I experienced as a young player, or a squad player in the Premiership.

“It is the same with goalkeeper coaches – I have been lucky to work with Petr Cech’s goalie coach, the one Conte brought with him worked at the Euros with Gianluigi Buffon, and the work I am getting with Gillo is probably more detailed and technical anyhow.

“The staff here, working with the gaffer and Gillo, were two huge reasons why I joined the club. I spoke about it when I signed, you want to play for a manager that has a blend of experience but also plays football in the modern way, which suits me as a goalkeeper.

“The fact he is a manager who can grow, manage in the Championship, manage in the Premiership, that is the level I want to be playing with. And from a goalkeeper coach, I want to play at the top level and Gillo has been there and done it, he has played in the division we’re in, knows what it is about, and he is recently retired too. We have had a great relationship so far.

“I spoke to my coach at Accrington, Tony Warner, and he said me and Gillo couldn’t have been a better fit. Whenever I have played at my best it is when I have had a close relationship with my goalkeeper coach, and I hope to have that here.”

Meanwhile, Wanderers are unlikely to follow-up their interest in St Mirren’s Australian midfielder Keanu Baccus.

The 24-year-old pulled out of training with the Scottish club on Friday with a knee injury, with manager Stephen Robinson confirming he had been playing with the issue since last winter’s World Cup.