Matt Mills waiting for all-clear before Bolton Wanderers first-team return

Matt Mills will have a scan today that should determine whether he will return to full training with Wanderers.

The centre-half has been missing since injuring his knee in the 2-0 victory over Watford three weeks ago but has now returned to light duties.

It was feared he may have damaged a cruciate ligament after falling awkwardly at the Reebok but he now just needs a thumbs-up from the club’s medical team before he can be considered for selection.

Mills could face a battle to regain his place despite being one of the most consistent performers of the season.

Zat Knight and Alan Hutton have staked a claim since Mills has been on the sidelines, with Dougie Freedman naming a completely new-look back four at Derby in midweek.

Freedman explained yesterday that the changes – which saw Tim Ream moved to centre-half and Alex Baptiste to left-back – had been tactically motivated.

“It was the right thing to do. I won’t go into detail but their manager blew out his cheeks when he saw the team-sheet because he knew we’d done our homework,” he said.

“He knew why we were playing one up front and why I’d put Tim Ream in there to stop the runners from midfield.

“I remembered the goal they scored at the Reebok, running between the centre halves, so I had to make sure it was balanced up with a left-footer in there.

“When it ran on to Tim I felt he was comfortable.”

Source

Keep doing that homework, Doug!

The more I think about the Derby game the more I feel it was a missed opportunity BUT I'd have been happy with a point before the match and so I won't grumble about it any more. It was a very solid defensive display and given how woeful our back line was for a large part of the season I suppose that is a positive in its own right.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:The more I think about the Derby game the more I feel it was a missed opportunity BUT I'd have been happy with a point before the match and so I won't grumble about it any more. It was a very solid defensive display and given how woeful our back line was for a large part of the season I suppose that is a positive in its own right.

I just wonder if Mason had been fit and had played further forward than Moritz did whether Derby might have stuffed us. As it was they ran the midfield and murdered us on the flanks and it could have been worse if we were a player light in the middle. On the other hand they might have been less willing to push on if we had a second player further forward. We just don't know how it would have panned out, but although we've had success with Juke/Mason I'm still concerned that better teams will exploit the diamond formation - I just don't think it's the panacea it's cracked up to be. Much prefer it to sitting back from an entertainment perspective though.

wanderlust wrote:

luckyPeterpiper wrote:The more I think about the Derby game the more I feel it was a missed opportunity BUT I'd have been happy with a point before the match and so I won't grumble about it any more. It was a very solid defensive display and given how woeful our back line was for a large part of the season I suppose that is a positive in its own right.

I just wonder if Mason had been fit and had played further forward than Moritz did whether Derby might have stuffed us. As it was they ran the midfield and murdered us on the flanks and it could have been worse if we were a player light in the middle. On the other hand they might have been less willing to push on if we had a second player further forward. We just don't know how it would have panned out, but although we've had success with Juke/Mason I'm still concerned that better teams will exploit the diamond formation - I just don't think it's the panacea it's cracked up to be. Much prefer it to sitting back from an entertainment perspective though.

Hi lusty, bear with me, got a concussion so typing is slowwww today.   

I don't think the diamond or any other formation is a cure all of any kind. What matters is HOW we perform when we use it and it can't be denied that it definitely seems to play to our strengths. I agree we can lack width with it but the fact is our two best out and out wingers are also somewhat inconsistent and never really did much tracking back to begin with. 

If we were playing better and looked stronger in a 4-5-1 I'd be the first to advocate it but we don't. We play it too deep and too defensively in my opinion and inviting the opposition to run at you all day is asking for trouble. If we had wingers who tackle back and get forward with equal facility I'd quite like a 4-5-1 with two def mids, one CAM and one striker. Moritz could back Juke in that formation comfortably but we don't have the personnel to make it work. Dougie should have seen that long ago.