KYLE Dempsey, Ricardo Santos and Kion Etete underwent a full training session at Wanderers ahead of this weekend’s game at Stockport County – a could be back in action after the international break, Steven Schumacher has confirmed.
The trio were involved in a full-contact session for the first time and will continue their rehabilitation over the international break, potentially being involved in a B Team game scheduled for next weekend.
With many of the first team players doing a reduced session on Thursday after featuring at Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night, Schumacher was able to work more closely with those who are returning from injury.
“We didn’t pick up any other injuries, everything was clear,” he said. “But it was great to see that some of the lads who have been out longer term with injuries were back, so Kyle Dempsey, Ricardo Santos and Kion Etete all trained fully.
“It was a really high-intensity session that they did so it was good for them, and everyone else has got a clean bill of health as well.
“It was good to see Rico blowing a little bit today. Got him a sweat on.”
George Johnston will miss Saturday’s game against Stockport, Schumacher added, but the defender won’t be sidelined for long.
“He had a minor hamstring strain, so he's going to be unavailable for this Saturday, but we should have him back for Blackpool, fingers crossed,” said the Bolton boss.
“That is a bit of a shame, because George is another player who's been playing really well lately, and we'll miss his balance with the left foot on that side, but it'll only hopefully be for one more game.”
Wanderers missed out on a chance to climb into fifth spot on Tuesday night but Schumacher remains generally pleased with the performance at the Memorial Stadium.
“it was our game at hand, so we wanted to try and take advantage,” he said. “It would have been nice to be above Stockport going into this game, but it's not the case, so we accept that.
“As we said on Tuesday night we did some really good things in the game and there was just a couple of moments where we let ourselves down and conceded goals from our point of view that weren't great, but that's football, it is what it is.
“We can only look forward to the next one, which will be a tough challenge.
“Stockport are obviously going really well, and we find ourselves in a battle with them for their top six positions, and we want to try and come out on top of it.”
