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Jimmy Phillips has challenged his younger players to show they should have a future at Wanderers by making the most of the last five games.
With the club’s fate sealed and League One football a certainty the Whites have a whole month of the season to play with only pride at stake.
They can still have a say at the top end of the Championship, with games against Middlesbrough and Hull City to come at the Macron, with struggling Charlton also to visit in the coming weeks.
Phillips has the unenviable task of maintaining motivation but the interim boss hopes his younger players could benefit most from playing without fear or pressure in the final few weeks.
“Though the season has gone from bad to worse we need to turn up and make sure we apply ourselves for whatever is left of the season,” he told The Bolton News. “I still think we can take something for the future.
“I don’t want the season to get any worse. I want to salvage some pride, especially at home and we’ll be working very, very hard to make that happen, I can promise that.
“Some of the younger players are in a situation now where they are part of the first team and they are getting chances. It is up to them now whether they take it and use that to their betterment.”
Phillips has offered chances to the likes of Tom Walker, Niall Maher, Alex Finney and Alex Samizadeh in his four games so far but reverted to his most experienced line-up in the defeat at Derby that finally consigned the club to relegation.
Performances have been a mixed bag but the academy boss believes the experience of first team football can bode well for their careers.
“Niall Maher did okay, Zach Clough has had a decent season in general, Robert Holding has perhaps done the best out of the youngsters,” he said.
“In the past – when we have been a Premier League or Championship squad – those younger lads have struggled to get opportunities, sometimes even to train with the first team squad.
“They are in the middle of it now and as I have said before, those who deserve their chance will get it. That won’t change.”
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With the club’s fate sealed and League One football a certainty the Whites have a whole month of the season to play with only pride at stake.
They can still have a say at the top end of the Championship, with games against Middlesbrough and Hull City to come at the Macron, with struggling Charlton also to visit in the coming weeks.
Phillips has the unenviable task of maintaining motivation but the interim boss hopes his younger players could benefit most from playing without fear or pressure in the final few weeks.
“Though the season has gone from bad to worse we need to turn up and make sure we apply ourselves for whatever is left of the season,” he told The Bolton News. “I still think we can take something for the future.
“I don’t want the season to get any worse. I want to salvage some pride, especially at home and we’ll be working very, very hard to make that happen, I can promise that.
“Some of the younger players are in a situation now where they are part of the first team and they are getting chances. It is up to them now whether they take it and use that to their betterment.”
Phillips has offered chances to the likes of Tom Walker, Niall Maher, Alex Finney and Alex Samizadeh in his four games so far but reverted to his most experienced line-up in the defeat at Derby that finally consigned the club to relegation.
Performances have been a mixed bag but the academy boss believes the experience of first team football can bode well for their careers.
“Niall Maher did okay, Zach Clough has had a decent season in general, Robert Holding has perhaps done the best out of the youngsters,” he said.
“In the past – when we have been a Premier League or Championship squad – those younger lads have struggled to get opportunities, sometimes even to train with the first team squad.
“They are in the middle of it now and as I have said before, those who deserve their chance will get it. That won’t change.”
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