Ian Evatt believes Josh Sheehan is still up to a fortnight away from being back involved regularly for Bolton Wanderers' first team with the Whites boss admitting he is having to 'pull on the reigns' with the midfielder keen to get back out there.
The midfielder has been out since last November with a ruptured ACL and has had a long road back to recovery. He made his comeback at the end of last month in the Papa Johns Trophy win over Crewe Alex.
Sheehan adds to a competitive midfield department at Wanderers and Evatt admits the player wants to be back regularly now. But he is holding off on bringing the player back for a few weeks to build up his fitness further to ensure he can perform out of possession as well as he does with the ball.
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Evatt said: “Josh wants to play now. It is me trying to pull on the reins a bit. We know he is a really good player but I am having to say to him that he might need to slow down, give himself a little more time, make sure his fitness levels are where they need to be to execute what I need him to do in and out of possession.
“In possession, there is no issue with Josh because he is fantastic technical player. But out of possession, if just one isn’t quite on it, the whole thing can break down. You need to compete with that effort and physical intensity and when you can do that, we’ll crack on. With Josh, I still feel he is a week or two away from being ready to be involved in first team games again."
Another player who is nearing a return is Lloyd Isgrove, whose first team return has been held up due to a foot issue. He has featured for the club's B team but will have a wait until he is fully fit and firing again to play for the first team.
Evatt said: “Lloyd’s a brilliant person and he’s nuts, he’s bonkers, he really is, but the lads love him, we love him, he’s great around the changing room, regardless of his personal situation. He’s been through a rough time but that’s football and it’s how you overcome adversity which really defines you as a person and I think Lloyd will do that and he’ll be back to his best hopefully soon.
“But he’s a credit to be around. I think he can make a really good wing-back, the way our wing-backs play and how we want them to play. But first and foremost we need to get him fully fit again and firing and ready to go.”
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