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Josh Sheehan and Gethin Jones will be back in the Wanderers squad to face Port Vale – but Ian Evatt will keep his options open on skipper Ricardo Santos.
All three players were withdrawn from the starting line-up for the 2-2 draw against Shrewsbury Town to minimise the risk of aggravating minor injuries.
Sheehan (hamstring) and Jones (hip) have come through the last couple of days of training and could feature in a game Bolton must win to stand any chance of automatic promotion but Santos continues to manage a small tear in his soleus (calf) and could be held back for another week.
Evatt admitted the decision to take all three players out of the firing line in midweek was a difficult one.
“There were some medical decisions we needed to make on Tuesday for the longer-term and they certainly weren’t easy for me to make,” he said. “I wanted those players available.
“But as I said after the game I am no medical expert. I have to listen to my team and trust what they tell me.
“Saturday is slightly different. Ricardo is probably the only one we really need to look at because at this time there is still an element of risk, and as much as we can at this point of the season we want to be risk averse.
“Josh is in a much better place, so is Gethin, and their risk is limited now because of what we did on Tuesday night. They will be back involved.
“Ricardo could be but we will wait until the last minute to decide.”
Santos produced a man-of-the-match performance against Portsmouth last Saturday playing with a painkilling injection and Evatt is loathe to extend his time on the side-lines any longer than necessary.
“We know he makes a difference, you have watched the team over the last four years and you know how critical he is to the way we want to play and how we want to defend,” he said.
“I think a fit Ricardo Santos helps this team immensely and that is where we need him.
“Is he unfit? No. But it is risk and reward. On Tuesday I listened to the medical advice and we will do that again after discussing things with him and the medical team and making a final call.
“If he misses Saturday he will be playing at Peterborough, there is no doubt. We are not saying we’re taking him out and putting him in the play-offs and hoping for the best.
“I always find he is at his best when he has had some game time and he is going to need it it does end up being the play-offs.
“He is not far away but we are trying to minimise the risks as best we can, which sometimes as a manager is a really difficult thing to do.”
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