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Conor Wilkinson has been given a vote of confidence by Neil Lennon on the eve of a return to his former club Millwall.
The young striker could keep his place up front at The Den with Craig Davies still nursing a hamstring strain.
Wilkinson angered Lions fans with comments made earlier this week which said he had moved on to “bigger and better things” with Wanderers when he turned down a professional contract offer from the London club in July 2013.
But his honest assessment of a difficult debut against Ipswich Town struck a chord with Wanderers fans and his manager, who has backed the Ireland Under-21 international to handle the pressure if called upon.
“Conor might get a bit of stick but ex-players always do,” Lennon told The Bolton News. “Again it will be a little test of character for him but he’s training really well.
“He had a tough experience on Saturday against Ipswich but that’s good; it shows him what he has to do to progress.
“But we think we have got a good player there and in time I think he’ll be very beneficial to the club.”
Lennon could bring Zach Clough into the first team squad tonight and is likely to bring Rob Hall into the starting line-up to replace Max Clayton, who will miss the rest of the campaign with a cruciate ligament injury.
Eidur Gudjohnsen is primed for his first start since returning to the club but Lennon insists he has got a few permutations in mind.
“I do have attacking options,” he said. “They are getting fewer and fewer as the weeks go on, but I still have some. It’s a balancing act.
“I’m not getting too down about it. We’re playing well, we’ve had three clean sheets in a row and we’re unbeaten in six.
“Yes, the goals drying up concerns me a little bit, but I think it’s understandable given the injuries we’ve had in the last few weeks.
“We are trying to hold things together at the moment with as much positivity as we can until the window opens.”
Wanderers have won just once in the league at Millwall in 81 years but Lennon takes encouragement from improved away form since he came to the club.
“That kind of thing doesn’t worry me, all the records are just there to be broken,” he said. “We need to improve our away form but we won at Birmingham, drew at Blackpool and Reading, which was okay, so I think things are picking up.”
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The young striker could keep his place up front at The Den with Craig Davies still nursing a hamstring strain.
Wilkinson angered Lions fans with comments made earlier this week which said he had moved on to “bigger and better things” with Wanderers when he turned down a professional contract offer from the London club in July 2013.
But his honest assessment of a difficult debut against Ipswich Town struck a chord with Wanderers fans and his manager, who has backed the Ireland Under-21 international to handle the pressure if called upon.
“Conor might get a bit of stick but ex-players always do,” Lennon told The Bolton News. “Again it will be a little test of character for him but he’s training really well.
“He had a tough experience on Saturday against Ipswich but that’s good; it shows him what he has to do to progress.
“But we think we have got a good player there and in time I think he’ll be very beneficial to the club.”
Lennon could bring Zach Clough into the first team squad tonight and is likely to bring Rob Hall into the starting line-up to replace Max Clayton, who will miss the rest of the campaign with a cruciate ligament injury.
Eidur Gudjohnsen is primed for his first start since returning to the club but Lennon insists he has got a few permutations in mind.
“I do have attacking options,” he said. “They are getting fewer and fewer as the weeks go on, but I still have some. It’s a balancing act.
“I’m not getting too down about it. We’re playing well, we’ve had three clean sheets in a row and we’re unbeaten in six.
“Yes, the goals drying up concerns me a little bit, but I think it’s understandable given the injuries we’ve had in the last few weeks.
“We are trying to hold things together at the moment with as much positivity as we can until the window opens.”
Wanderers have won just once in the league at Millwall in 81 years but Lennon takes encouragement from improved away form since he came to the club.
“That kind of thing doesn’t worry me, all the records are just there to be broken,” he said. “We need to improve our away form but we won at Birmingham, drew at Blackpool and Reading, which was okay, so I think things are picking up.”
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