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Mansfield Away: Return of the Crocks

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Some thoughts on Max Clayton and David Wheater after Bolton’s 2-1 loss at Mansfield

A new manager, but it’s the Bolton we have come to expect.

A slow first half, finding ourselves 2-0 down at half-time, and Phil Parkinson not being happy about it in his post-match comments.

The second half was better, it seemed. Max Clayton played a good ball through, Zach Clough took the touches, and bagged himself a goal. But Wanderers still lost away.

As I’ve said already, it’s hard to take away stuff from pre-season matches. I think it’s always better to win them but at the same time don’t panic too much if we lose them.

I didn’t go today, nor am I going to any pre-season matches, but there are two things for me. Max Clayton and the return of David Wheater.

Clayton played the second half, and this season is going to be very important for him and in turn he could be important to us.

For all his talent, he still only has 10 league goals in his career. Save for a season and a half at Crewe, he’s never had a run of games, the last two seasons with us being curtailed by injury and his last season at Gresty Road saw him befall the same fate due to his ankle.

If he stays fit, let’s hope he can actually add some goals to his game to add to what we expect from Clough, Proctor and Madine. Because at the moment there is no stand out striker who will bang in goal after goal.

Now onto Wheater. Rumours were abound on the internet in midweek that he was back training with Wanderers, and he played some of the second half at Field Mill this afternoon.

For me a permanent deal rests on our outgoings. If Rob Holding is eventually sold, Wheater is a no brainer if the wages are right. We’ll have two big commanding centre halves with Mark Beevers also with us now, height seemingly a theme in Phil Parkinson’s signings, and Derik who can also play in midfield and is better on the ball.

One problem is his injury record. It has to be looked after, but that’s up to the medical department to get that right. But Wheater was a player we missed for large parts of last season. Having him in League One could be a huge, unexpected boosts.

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