WANDERERS are treading carefully with experienced midfielder Scott Arfield, knowing his footballing calendar has been turned upside down in recent years.

The 35-year-old has been used sparingly at the start of the League One campaign following his move from MLS outfit Charlotte FC and was rested entirely in this week’s Bristol Street Motors Trophy game against Aston Villa’s Under-21s.

Arfield moved to the US from Rangers mid-season in the summer of 2023 and then linked-up with Bolton for their training camp in Portugal 12 months later.

Ian Evatt has confirmed that the club are managing his football deliberately in his first few months to ensure he does not risk workload injuries, but he remains upbeat that the former Canada international will play a big part for Wanderers.

“Scott has obviously played consistently now for 18 months because the summer window overlaps with the MLS, so it is a lot for him to keep going and going,” he told The Bolton News.

“When we can give him a bit of a break, we give him some time, because he hasn’t had that for a long while now which isn’t right, or fair, and it isn’t going to help him physically. He is an important player for us.

“We decided to rest him (against Villa) and give him a couple of days to rest and regroup with his family and come back ready to go again for Burton.”

Arfield has also described his hectic schedule since deciding to move from Scotland to Charlotte, and he admits his decision to step down from international football could prolong his career at club level.

“It actually happened the other side [of my move to Charlotte] with Rangers, I had just short of two weeks off and then went straight into Charlotte mid-season,” he explained.

“I got a little break at Christmas there – from early November into January – so that was my little time to reassess, I got back home to Scotland.

“When the move to Bolton came, I was thoroughly refreshed and didn’t need much of a break and obviously international breaks I’m not playing anymore so I can get breaks then too. I do feel as though you need that time for a break when you’re older, so the international breaks will be good for me going forward.”

Evatt has given all his players some time to rest over the weekend, reconvening on Monday morning at Lostock to begin preparations for a key run of games to the November break.

Disappointed that they did not sign off with a league win against Shrewsbury, the Bolton boss will find out early next week if he will be in the dugout at all for the game against Burton Albion on October 19, with an FA disciplinary charge hanging over his head.

“Saturday was a game we should have won and what happened after that was on the back of the frustration of not winning that game.

“Obviously we have talked about it and we will wait for the outcome but all the focus has to be on the league now, that’s the bread and butter, so to speak.”

Scott Arfield was talking on behalf of SkyBet football. Visit the site here.