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Alex Bruce could push his claim for a permanent Wanderers contract tonight at Stockport County.
The former Hull City and Ipswich Town centre-back has trained with the Whites for the last couple of weeks and featured in the goalless draw at Fylde.
Phil Parkinson confirmed the 32-year-old would be used at Edgeley Park tonight along with other players who did not feature for 90 minutes at Fleetwood.
But a decision has not yet been made on whether he will be offered a contract with “two or three” other options currently available to the Whites boss.
One of them is West Ham’s Reece Burke, who has featured for West Ham in their pre-season tour of Austria and Germany.
Bruce has a good pedigree and helped Hull out of the Championship via the play-offs in 2015/16 – but missed the majority of last season through injury and was loaned out for a brief spell with Wigan Athletic.
The defender has made more than 300 career appearances, two thirds of which have been at Championship level, and has also trained with Sheffield United this summer.
Wanderers have not played at Stockport since 2002, when Gudni Bergsson, Henrik Pedersen and Michael Ricketts were on target in a 4-1 victory in the FA Cup third round.
Parkinson described defeat at Fleetwood on Saturday as a “wake-up call” for his squad who had, to that point, been going well in pre-season.
Mark Beevers is unlikely to start against the Hatters but feels there will be an extra emphasis on the remaining two games after a disappointing show at Highbury.
“I think the best way to look at the game is as a wake-up call,” he said.
“You can’t make excuses. I certainly wouldn’t want to do that.
“We were second best and if that’s a rocket up our backside to wake us up a bit and it works, it might even be a good thing.
“We know what areas we need to work on in that formation. We know what went wrong and what we should have done better. The good thing is that we have plenty of time to put it right before the real business starts.
“For me, personally, as long as we’re ready for that Sunday against Leeds United I couldn’t care less what happens in pre-season.”
Beevers says the bonds forged in League One’s tightest defence last season can work in the Whites’ favour this time around.
Parkinson is looking to bolster numbers at the back – with Bruce, Burke and Jason Lowe all mooted as possible signings.
The Wanderers boss also wants some competition for Andy Taylor on the left and has brought in Stephen Darby and Mark Little on free transfers.
Last season defensive resolve proved to be the bedrock of success, with a record 36 league goals conceded in 46 games.
Beevers knows the step up in class mean Wanderers are up against some formidable opposition, including relegated Premier League trio Sunderland, Hull City and Middlesbrough, supplemented by massive parachute payments.
But the former Sheffield Wednesday centre-half remains optimistic Parkinson will be able to rely on his defenders once again this season.
“We’ve gelled over the last season, and got stronger as time went on,” he told The Bolton News. “It’s no coincidence we defended well last season, got the best record in the league and smashed the record for the club as well.
“We need to take that into next season in the Championship. We understand there will be better players and better teams we’ll come up against but there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t put in the same performances as last season.
“If we can grind out results and keep teams down to the zeroes and ones it gives us the chance.”
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The former Hull City and Ipswich Town centre-back has trained with the Whites for the last couple of weeks and featured in the goalless draw at Fylde.
Phil Parkinson confirmed the 32-year-old would be used at Edgeley Park tonight along with other players who did not feature for 90 minutes at Fleetwood.
But a decision has not yet been made on whether he will be offered a contract with “two or three” other options currently available to the Whites boss.
One of them is West Ham’s Reece Burke, who has featured for West Ham in their pre-season tour of Austria and Germany.
Bruce has a good pedigree and helped Hull out of the Championship via the play-offs in 2015/16 – but missed the majority of last season through injury and was loaned out for a brief spell with Wigan Athletic.
The defender has made more than 300 career appearances, two thirds of which have been at Championship level, and has also trained with Sheffield United this summer.
Wanderers have not played at Stockport since 2002, when Gudni Bergsson, Henrik Pedersen and Michael Ricketts were on target in a 4-1 victory in the FA Cup third round.
Parkinson described defeat at Fleetwood on Saturday as a “wake-up call” for his squad who had, to that point, been going well in pre-season.
Mark Beevers is unlikely to start against the Hatters but feels there will be an extra emphasis on the remaining two games after a disappointing show at Highbury.
“I think the best way to look at the game is as a wake-up call,” he said.
“You can’t make excuses. I certainly wouldn’t want to do that.
“We were second best and if that’s a rocket up our backside to wake us up a bit and it works, it might even be a good thing.
“We know what areas we need to work on in that formation. We know what went wrong and what we should have done better. The good thing is that we have plenty of time to put it right before the real business starts.
“For me, personally, as long as we’re ready for that Sunday against Leeds United I couldn’t care less what happens in pre-season.”
Beevers says the bonds forged in League One’s tightest defence last season can work in the Whites’ favour this time around.
Parkinson is looking to bolster numbers at the back – with Bruce, Burke and Jason Lowe all mooted as possible signings.
The Wanderers boss also wants some competition for Andy Taylor on the left and has brought in Stephen Darby and Mark Little on free transfers.
Last season defensive resolve proved to be the bedrock of success, with a record 36 league goals conceded in 46 games.
Beevers knows the step up in class mean Wanderers are up against some formidable opposition, including relegated Premier League trio Sunderland, Hull City and Middlesbrough, supplemented by massive parachute payments.
But the former Sheffield Wednesday centre-half remains optimistic Parkinson will be able to rely on his defenders once again this season.
“We’ve gelled over the last season, and got stronger as time went on,” he told The Bolton News. “It’s no coincidence we defended well last season, got the best record in the league and smashed the record for the club as well.
“We need to take that into next season in the Championship. We understand there will be better players and better teams we’ll come up against but there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t put in the same performances as last season.
“If we can grind out results and keep teams down to the zeroes and ones it gives us the chance.”
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