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Phil Parkinson intends to keep his new-look Wanderers strike force on their toes.
Having gone most of the season with a settled front line, anchored by the physical presence of Gary Madine, team-sheets for the remaining months of the season look like being less predictable.
Since deadline day, Parkinson has already mixed and matched Sammy Ameobi with Tyler Walker, Zach Clough and Adam Le Fondre – but the Whites boss reckons varying his game-plan can help the survival effort.
“I think when you look at most clubs, they change their strikers around more than any other position so that the players stay fresh,” he told The Bolton News.
“I think that will be the case for us. We’ll judge it on a game by game basis.
“I think Sammy (Ameobi) and Alfie (Le Fondre) were bright in spells at Cardiff. Alfie worked hard and I think he was one of our better players. But is it ever going to be settled? I don’t think it will.”
Aaron Wilbraham – the only recognised target man in the Wanderers camp - could also come into the equation once he has recovered from a calf injury, and youngster Connor Hall’s performances for the Under-23s have also attracted high praise.
Parkinson’s concerns at Cardiff on Tuesday night were primarily defensive, as his side failed to stand up to a rigorous first-half examination from their hosts.
The decision to rest David Wheater and play Reece Burke in the middle of defence was reversed at half time. The West Ham loanee was spared any severe criticism, however, as Parkinson summed up the performance.
“I wanted to put a bit of freshness in the team and knew Cardiff had pace at the top of the pitch. I felt young Reece would be the one to deal with that,” said the Whites boss, explaining his selection.
“In fairness to Reece he actually did alright. I just felt at half time, 2-0 down at a place like this, I wanted to get the experience of David Wheater on.
“Out of the three centre halves I think Reece did okay – it was just purely a decision on experience.”
Parkinson had to concede his team was second best in the Welsh capital, particularly in a first half in which the hosts rained 13 shots in on the Wanderers goal.
Some face was saved, however, in the second period, which led the Whites boss to feel his half-time words had an effect.
“First half, Cardiff were better than us in the basic areas of the game,” he said. “We didn’t deal with things as well as we can do – dealing with long throws, crosses, defending our six yard box.
“I saw them against Leeds, they won 4-1 and it could have been more. If they get on top of you they can overpower you. And that’s what we allowed them to do to us.
“I talked to the lads about playing for pride in the second half. I wanted to get back into it, and we did a little bit.
“We have come a long way with these players, the ones who were with us last year and the ones who have come in. We have got a lot of pride within the group and I thought we showed that later in the game.”
Keeper Ben Alnwick was one of the few who came out of the game in a positive light as the Whites missed out on a chance to widen the gap between themselves and the bottom three.
“Ben’s performance was absolutely top drawer,” he said. “He comes out of that game with a lot of credit and he made some very good saves.”
Wanderers go on the road again this weekend, looking to bounce back against QPR – a side three places and six points above them in the Championship table.
Parkinson is confident there will be no hangover.
“It doesn’t happen to us often,” he said. “We have to make sure we learn the lessons from that.
“Whenever you go away from home you have to make sure you get the basics right and we just didn’t do that against Cardiff.
“We will dust ourselves down and make sure that things improve at QPR.”
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Having gone most of the season with a settled front line, anchored by the physical presence of Gary Madine, team-sheets for the remaining months of the season look like being less predictable.
Since deadline day, Parkinson has already mixed and matched Sammy Ameobi with Tyler Walker, Zach Clough and Adam Le Fondre – but the Whites boss reckons varying his game-plan can help the survival effort.
“I think when you look at most clubs, they change their strikers around more than any other position so that the players stay fresh,” he told The Bolton News.
“I think that will be the case for us. We’ll judge it on a game by game basis.
“I think Sammy (Ameobi) and Alfie (Le Fondre) were bright in spells at Cardiff. Alfie worked hard and I think he was one of our better players. But is it ever going to be settled? I don’t think it will.”
Aaron Wilbraham – the only recognised target man in the Wanderers camp - could also come into the equation once he has recovered from a calf injury, and youngster Connor Hall’s performances for the Under-23s have also attracted high praise.
Parkinson’s concerns at Cardiff on Tuesday night were primarily defensive, as his side failed to stand up to a rigorous first-half examination from their hosts.
The decision to rest David Wheater and play Reece Burke in the middle of defence was reversed at half time. The West Ham loanee was spared any severe criticism, however, as Parkinson summed up the performance.
“I wanted to put a bit of freshness in the team and knew Cardiff had pace at the top of the pitch. I felt young Reece would be the one to deal with that,” said the Whites boss, explaining his selection.
“In fairness to Reece he actually did alright. I just felt at half time, 2-0 down at a place like this, I wanted to get the experience of David Wheater on.
“Out of the three centre halves I think Reece did okay – it was just purely a decision on experience.”
Parkinson had to concede his team was second best in the Welsh capital, particularly in a first half in which the hosts rained 13 shots in on the Wanderers goal.
Some face was saved, however, in the second period, which led the Whites boss to feel his half-time words had an effect.
“First half, Cardiff were better than us in the basic areas of the game,” he said. “We didn’t deal with things as well as we can do – dealing with long throws, crosses, defending our six yard box.
“I saw them against Leeds, they won 4-1 and it could have been more. If they get on top of you they can overpower you. And that’s what we allowed them to do to us.
“I talked to the lads about playing for pride in the second half. I wanted to get back into it, and we did a little bit.
“We have come a long way with these players, the ones who were with us last year and the ones who have come in. We have got a lot of pride within the group and I thought we showed that later in the game.”
Keeper Ben Alnwick was one of the few who came out of the game in a positive light as the Whites missed out on a chance to widen the gap between themselves and the bottom three.
“Ben’s performance was absolutely top drawer,” he said. “He comes out of that game with a lot of credit and he made some very good saves.”
Wanderers go on the road again this weekend, looking to bounce back against QPR – a side three places and six points above them in the Championship table.
Parkinson is confident there will be no hangover.
“It doesn’t happen to us often,” he said. “We have to make sure we learn the lessons from that.
“Whenever you go away from home you have to make sure you get the basics right and we just didn’t do that against Cardiff.
“We will dust ourselves down and make sure that things improve at QPR.”
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