Ian Evatt issues injury update ahead of Gillingham trip

Ian Evatt says Wanderers will give Gethin Jones “as much time as he needs” following the death of his mother, Karen Jones.

The 56-year-old former midwife passed away on Sunday following a battle with Motor Neurone Disease.

“When one of us is hurting we’re all hurting,” said the Bolton boss. “It’s an absolute tragedy for Gethin and his family.

“Karen was a wonderful woman. The whole Bolton Wanderers family are very sad and obviously our condolences go to him, his dad Gareth and the rest of the family.

“It’s hugely difficult. It gives you a sense of perspective with everything that’s gone on in the world really this past week.

“We’re all very, very sad and Gethin will obviously be missing on Saturday. We’re going to give him as much time as he needs. Some things are bigger than football and we’re all here to support him.”

Evatt also revealed the Whites are set to recall Adam Senior from his loan spell at Chorley to bolster his defensive options while Jones is away.

He added: “We will recall Adam Senior for some more defensive cover on the basis that we’re not going to put Gethin under any type of pressure to come back to work.

“Adam will stay with us for the rest of the season. We’ve made the decision that he’ll come back and the benefit is he’ll be back with us training day-to-day.”

The Bolton boss also revealed that Elias Kachunga has returned to full training after recovering from a thigh injury.

The Whites have no new injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s trip to Gillingham but the game comes too soon for Kachunga.

“Kacha has trained fully for the first time today, so he’s back now. Saturday is probably going to be too soon for him but it’s another body and another option,” said Evatt.

“He trained really well this morning. Everyone else is okay and ready to go.”

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I can of course understand Gethin being upset at the loss of his wonderful mother but is there a chance we’re being just a little over sentimental here? Normal procedure at my company was a two day bereavement break and I’m sure I was just as hurt when my parents died some years ago. I’m not in any way trying to be hard here but Evatt saying he’ll get as much time as he needs seems rather generous, especially given where the club is and how important Gethin himself is. Wouldn’t it be better to keep him involved and take his mind off things or am I being insensitive?