Phil Parkinson met the media today to preview the Bolton game on Boxing Day. The main news is that Jordan Willis is fit again. Phil Parkinson said: “The squad is looking good. Everyone is available apart from George Dobson, who picked up a red card in the last game. There’s bits and pieces – one or two have been off for a day here and there with illness – but you’d expect that at this kind of time. Jordan Willis is back and available after missing the Blackpool game so that’s good. We’ve had a clearish week. It’s a critical period for us with four games over Christmas. We’ve added some of the Under-23 players into the squad, and I’m sure the squad is going to be utilised to its maximum. Everybody’s got to be ready and prepared to play their part. We’ve got to aim, in this four-game block, to get back into that top six in the division, or at least be very close to it. That would help take us into January. When the games come thick and fast, it’s the teams with the strongest squads that normally come through these periods. It’s good that the likes of Charlie Wyke and Lynden Gooch, who have missed such a large chunk of the season, are now available. It takes us into this period in a good place.”
Parkinson also confirmed that Aiden McGeady will not feature and is training with the u23s. Parkinson said: “Obviously, Aiden can’t move on until January. But we had that conversation to give him the opportunity to prepare for that and also allow us to look towards who are going to bring in to replace him. He hasn’t moved on yet, but that’s because he’s unable to do so until January comes around. He’s fine. He’s been training with the Under-23s, and from our point of view, we want to focus on the lads who are here and who are going to be here (beyond January). From his point of view, he wants to keep himself as fit as possible so that if a move does materialise, he’s ready to play straight away.”
