Why Bolton Wanderers were not tempted to rush Josh Sheehan back as exciting verdict given

Ian Evatt believes Josh Sheehan was just not ready to return to action for Bolton Wanderers before the end of the season from a ruptured ACL as he feels the midfielder can adapt to different systems

The 27-year-old has been on the sidelines since November after his first season at Wanderers came to a premature end.

He played 20 times for the club in all competitions and scored four goals, including some particularly exciting form early on in the campaign.

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The Wales international has recently returned to running on grass at the club's Lostock training facility and has made encouraging progress with an aim of being ready for pre-season training.

The midfielder was taken out of Bolton's EFL squad list after the January transfer window, essentially an admission he would not play again this campaign.

And Evatt has explained that the midfielder was just not ready to be back in action this campaign due to the strength that is needed in a knee following such an injury.

With Wanderers now employing a 3-5-2 formation more, switching from the 4-2-3-1 which Sheehan played in at the beginning of the season, Evatt foresees the Wales midfielder being able to adapt to the new look Whites and play multiple roles.

The Bolton boss said: "With ACL injuries, it is a process really and he is at the stage of straight-line running. He has done nothing in terms of checking and that is the real big test for knees, when you get to the stage of checking at full speed and stopping.

"But for now, everything is going great. He has strengthened up in the gym, he has actually got muscles now which is nice to see! Physically he looks great, we