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On the back of a hugely disappointing defeat to leaders Norwich a journey into the cauldron of Elland Road is far from ideal for his troubled side.
But as his squad prepared for today’s match at another of the Championship’s high fliers, Leeds United, Wanderers boss Phil Parkinson remains defiant and focused in his bid to take home a points reward.
And he wants his players to be brave and embrace this afternoon’s unenviable task and, at the third time of asking, get one over on the Yorkshire side following defeats in December’s reverse league fixture and a Carabao Cup tie in August.
“It won’t be easy but it’s a great game for us, to go into a full house at Elland Road,” he told The Bolton News. “We’re going there with nothing to lose really but we’ve got to go there and relish the challenge.
“We were in both of the games this season, we matched Leeds and that’s what we’ve got to be ready to do again. They’re a very hard-working team and the physical stats back that up and on their day we kind of matched that energy and we need to do that again.”
A welcome sight for Parkinson was a return to training for Jack Hobbs and Gary O’Neil, though a scan on Marc Wilson’s injury suggests he will not be back in action for a few weeks.
“Jack Hobbs and Gary O’Neil are back in training and Luca Connell was set to train yesterday but he went down with an illness so we’ll monitor him over the next 48 hours,” he revealed. “Andy Taylor is making good progress and so is Ben Alnwick.
“Marc Wilson is still out unfortunately. A scan did reveal some damage to the muscle in his glute. It’s an unusual muscle he’s damaged, hopefully it’s not a serious injury but we’re waiting on a second opinion on it.
“It’s one that was giving him problems and they thought the problem was originally coming from his back then the scan revealed a torn muscle in his glute, which is a very unusual one to damage and it was giving him problems from his glute to his hamstring.
“I don’t think it’s that painful but it’s something we’ve got to get right before he can get back on the training pitch.”
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But as his squad prepared for today’s match at another of the Championship’s high fliers, Leeds United, Wanderers boss Phil Parkinson remains defiant and focused in his bid to take home a points reward.
And he wants his players to be brave and embrace this afternoon’s unenviable task and, at the third time of asking, get one over on the Yorkshire side following defeats in December’s reverse league fixture and a Carabao Cup tie in August.
“It won’t be easy but it’s a great game for us, to go into a full house at Elland Road,” he told The Bolton News. “We’re going there with nothing to lose really but we’ve got to go there and relish the challenge.
“We were in both of the games this season, we matched Leeds and that’s what we’ve got to be ready to do again. They’re a very hard-working team and the physical stats back that up and on their day we kind of matched that energy and we need to do that again.”
A welcome sight for Parkinson was a return to training for Jack Hobbs and Gary O’Neil, though a scan on Marc Wilson’s injury suggests he will not be back in action for a few weeks.
“Jack Hobbs and Gary O’Neil are back in training and Luca Connell was set to train yesterday but he went down with an illness so we’ll monitor him over the next 48 hours,” he revealed. “Andy Taylor is making good progress and so is Ben Alnwick.
“Marc Wilson is still out unfortunately. A scan did reveal some damage to the muscle in his glute. It’s an unusual muscle he’s damaged, hopefully it’s not a serious injury but we’re waiting on a second opinion on it.
“It’s one that was giving him problems and they thought the problem was originally coming from his back then the scan revealed a torn muscle in his glute, which is a very unusual one to damage and it was giving him problems from his glute to his hamstring.
“I don’t think it’s that painful but it’s something we’ve got to get right before he can get back on the training pitch.”
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