MJ Williams should be available to play for Bolton Wanderers in this Saturday's pre-season friendly against Chorley after missing the 9-0 victory over Longridge Town with a swollen knee.
Wanderers took the lead in the first half through Kyle Dempsey, before Elias Kachunga fired home a second not long after. Amadou Bakayoko added a sublime third before half-time.
Ian Evatt changed his side completely for the second half and made 11 changes. Striker Dion Charles bagged a brace and was teed up by Liverpool loanee Conor Bradley on both occasions.
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George Johnston scored Bolton's sixth before Charles completed his hat trick from the penalty spot after Bradley had been brought down. Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Dapo Afolayan also found the back of the net as Wanderers secured victory in emphatic fashion.
Defensive midfielder Williams did not feature for the Whites last night, despite travelling with the team. He was not named by Ian Evatt for either XI named either side of half time.
Williams was omitted due to a swollen knee as a precaution. But speaking after the encounter, Evatt believes that Williams should be back available for the next pre-season friendly on Saturday afternoon against Chorley.
He said: “I would think he would be available on Saturday. It was just a little bit of swelling in his knee purely because of the amount of load we’ve had in the first eight days of pre-season that they’ve covered.
"They’ve covered huge amounts of distances so it’s only naturally that we’re going to see one or two reactions, especially with the plane journey as well and for us big uns, they’re not the most roomy of planes! He’ll be fine for Saturday I would think.”
Two other players who travelled but did not feature against the Ridge were Josh Sheehan and Lloyd Isgrove. The pair have been rehabilitating from injuries, with Sheehan on the comeback from a ruptured ACL and Isgrove recovering from hamstring problems.
Giving an update on Sheehan, Evatt believes the midfielder should be back available towards the conclusion of the club's pre-season schedule. Winger Isgrove meanwhile is still three weeks away from a full return to training.
He said: “Josh won’t be ready to play probably until the back end of our pre-season schedule. He’s doing more and more every day and still progressing towards the physical contact, but all the football work he’s doing now.
“Lloyd still isn’t ready to join in. He’s probably got another three weeks left before he’s ready to join back in to train. But MJ should be fine for Saturday.”
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