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Wanderers boss Ian Evatt has seen “good signs” from Josh Sheehan’s performances as the midfielder continues to build up his sharpness after a lengthy injury lay off.
Sheehan has made nine appearances so far this season after returning from an ACL injury which kept him out of action for the best part of a year.
Evatt says the Welshman has had to be patient due to the Whites’ strength in depth in the middle of the pitch.
But the Bolton boss is pleased with Sheehan’s progress and hopes he is starting to get back to his best heading into the busy Christmas period.
“I have seen good signs,” he said. “I think he will be the first to admit that when he first came back, he wasn’t where he left off. But that is only natural.
“He needs game time, he needs sharpness. But because that area of the pitch is one we strengthened, it is competitive.
“He has had to be patient but I thought he was one of our better players at Shrewsbury and that was much more like a Josh Sheehan performance.
“And then again moments of quality when he came on (against Manchester United Under-21s) so hopefully he is getting back to where he was pre-injury.”
Kieran Lee has also impressed over the past week, and Evatt says the experienced midfielder is a “classy footballer”.
However, he continues to be cautious with the 34-year-old’s playing time in an effort to get the best out of him.
“Kieran is a perfect professional. Obviously, age comes to us all but his intelligence in and out of possession is superb,” the manager explained.
“He is a classy footballer and once we get him in the right physical conditions, which obviously needs managing the older he gets, he shows everybody what he can do.
“Him and Josh were leading lights on Saturday, and Tuesday he was again superb. Fingers crossed he is still in one piece, which it looks like he is, and we can go again on Saturday with him.”
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