DION Charles returned to action for Wanderers in what turned out to be a surprisingly physical friendly against Stoke City.

Million Manhoef scored the only goal of the game for Stephen Schumacher’s Championship side, whose class told at times on the ball.

But though the visitors’ lead remained a slender one, the foul count certainly was not, and Ian Evatt may well be pleased that his players walked off without any further injury issues after a summer where the treatment table has rarely laid empty.

Wanderers gave a first start of pre-season to goalkeeper Luke Southwood, now fully recovered from his fractured fibula, with Nathan Baxter given the night off.

There was no sign of Aaron Collins, who had hurt his knee against Fiorentina, or Port Vale old boy Will Forrester, who may well be recalled for Saturday’s visit to his old stomping ground.

Barring a dodgy half an hour with a much-changed side against Middlesbrough there has been little to complain about on the pitch for Wanderers in the last few weeks, other than perhaps the lack of options in certain positions in Evatt’s squad.

For the first time since they returned at the end of June, the Bolton boss may have been left wanting more from his players in the first half. Work in possession was often fragmented, tackles were missed around the penalty box, and the whole thing lacked the spark shown a few days earlier against Fiorentina.

Stoke, for their part, looked classy on the ball. They scored a superb opening goal when Josh Laurent split the defence with a fine pass and Dutchman Million Manhoef dinked his shot over the oncoming Southwood and into the net.

The Championship side had been a yard quicker and slicker for most of the opening 45 minutes and though Southwood was never over-worked, the pressure on the Bolton goal was fairly constant.

Laurent sent one bouncing volley just wide, both George Johnston and Ricardo Santos made vital clearances in front of their own goal after Enda Stevens and Junior Tchamadeu had wriggled free on either wing, and Eric Bocat came within a whisker of turning in another dangerous cross from the left.

Wanderers had a decent spell on the half-hour, finally sussing out that Josh Dacres-Cogley had all the space he would want on the right flank. The wing-back was involved in their best move of the game, combining with Klaidi Lolos and Scott Arfield to flash a ball across Viktor Johansson’s goal. Moments later, Lolos and Arfield combined again, with the latter fizzing a shot at goal which was palmed over the bar.

Aaron Morley also curled a shot into the keeper’s arms as the Whites kept the pressure on for a while but after Stoke nudged ahead they started to again find space and keep their hosts pressed in.

Laurent should have scored a second directly after the restart, Bolton trying to play out from Southwood put being quickly picked off. The former Bury loanee had space to compose himself 12 yards out but fired wide of the far post.

If Bolton were going to make a breakthrough, it seemed certain to come through Arfield, who was playing in one of the attacking berths behind Nlundulu. The former Rangers man showed a few classy touches, including one to send Dacres-Cogley in behind Lyndon Gooch but unfortunately the wing-back couldn’t find a team-mate with his cross.

Josh Sheehan’s night seemed to consist of him being repeatedly tripped from all angles, few of which were called as fouls by referee Tom Kirk. On the hour mark he had clearly had enough – sent sprawling by Laurent, he got up and pushed the Stoke midfielder, sparking a 20-man melee on the halfway line.

That did inject a bit more life into the game from a Wanderers perspective, as did the arrival of Charles for his first minutes of pre-season off the bench. The Northern Ireland international showed a little bit of summer rust, failing to finish on the turn after a clever volleyed cross from Arfield, but when Victor Adeboyejo came on to join him in attack there was an instant and very positive connection which bodes well for the future.

Southwood showed his skills with 20 minutes left on the clock, denying Emre Tezgel with a smart stop after he had burst into the Bolton box.

As the minutes ticked down, Stoke’s dominance in possession faded. Their foul count remained impressively high, however, especially for a friendly. They remained well capable of cutting Bolton open on the break, however, and one delightful flowing move ended with Wouter Burger passing a shot just wide of Southwood’s right-hand post.

Sheehan was subbed for Nelson Khumbeni late on after being felled for the umpteenth time, the Welshman shaking his head in frustration as he walked off to the dugout.

Wanderers had improved as the night went on but couldn’t find the one clear-cut chance which could make the score-line agree.