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Phil Parkinson admits it could be hard to stand in Filipe Morais’ way now he has conquered the knee problem which wrecked his pre-season.
Wanderers’ wing ace is now back in full training and pushing hard to play a part in the opening weeks of the Championship campaign.
Concern had been mounting over the injury which forced Morais to watch all of the friendly games from the side-lines.
Sunday’s opener against Leeds United is likely to come too soon for the 31-year-old but Parkinson is optimistic it will not be long before he is in contention.
“We’re really pleased with Fil, in terms of the progression he made last week,” he told The Bolton News. “A week ago I was really worried but now he’s sprinting, turning and joining in full training, so it’s hard to hold him back. That’s good news for us.
“We have to be realistic, he has missed some pre-season. His general condition, body fat, is very good. You have to give him and the physio Matt Barrass credit for that because he’s had to stay off his knee.
“But it’s very positive for us that he’s at that stage, so now he’s got to fight to get his place in the team.”
Parkinson experimented with a number of different formations over pre-season and though he started with a back three against Stoke on Saturday, he has not ruled out using a different shape against Leeds.
The Wanderers boss concedes his squad is still a “work in progress” with some areas lacking cover but he is confident he has more tactical options than he did in League One.
“We’ve still got some work to do in recruitment,” he said. “But we’re looking forward to the week ahead. We’ll get some good training into the players but slowly, we’re getting there.
“We have flexibility in our shape, and as I’ve said all along that is going to be important.
“We played that was because we felt it was the best way to set up against Stoke but we’ll re-assess the situation during the week and make a decision based on what we feel is right for Leeds at the weekend.”
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Wanderers’ wing ace is now back in full training and pushing hard to play a part in the opening weeks of the Championship campaign.
Concern had been mounting over the injury which forced Morais to watch all of the friendly games from the side-lines.
Sunday’s opener against Leeds United is likely to come too soon for the 31-year-old but Parkinson is optimistic it will not be long before he is in contention.
“We’re really pleased with Fil, in terms of the progression he made last week,” he told The Bolton News. “A week ago I was really worried but now he’s sprinting, turning and joining in full training, so it’s hard to hold him back. That’s good news for us.
“We have to be realistic, he has missed some pre-season. His general condition, body fat, is very good. You have to give him and the physio Matt Barrass credit for that because he’s had to stay off his knee.
“But it’s very positive for us that he’s at that stage, so now he’s got to fight to get his place in the team.”
Parkinson experimented with a number of different formations over pre-season and though he started with a back three against Stoke on Saturday, he has not ruled out using a different shape against Leeds.
The Wanderers boss concedes his squad is still a “work in progress” with some areas lacking cover but he is confident he has more tactical options than he did in League One.
“We’ve still got some work to do in recruitment,” he said. “But we’re looking forward to the week ahead. We’ll get some good training into the players but slowly, we’re getting there.
“We have flexibility in our shape, and as I’ve said all along that is going to be important.
“We played that was because we felt it was the best way to set up against Stoke but we’ll re-assess the situation during the week and make a decision based on what we feel is right for Leeds at the weekend.”
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