NATHAN Blake heads for the land of his fathers tonight looking for goals to boost his hopes of leading the Wanderers strikeforce into the new season.

The Welsh international, who managed just one goal in 16 Premiership starts, knows a good performance in the friendly at Wrexham will go a long way to persuading Colin Todd to put last season's failings behind him.

Blake, who has returned from the summer break looking leaner and meaner, was one of the few Bolton players to come out of Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Hull with any credit. But he still needs goals to make sure his star stays in the ascendancy.

And he is likely to be fired up tonight on a ground where his goals for Cardiff in the all-Wales clashes have always made for a spicy relationship with the Wrexham fans.

Todd, still on the lookout for a new striker but confident that he already has a powerful attack by Division One standards, says: "Nathan has set his stall out well but he just needs a few goals in pre-season to improve his confidence.

"But I can give him no guarantees, other than to say he is one of the three I'm looking at as my figurehead strikers - and they have all done well in the First Division and one would hope they can continue in the same vein.

"John McGinlay has a phenomenal record at that level, as has Nathan, and Mixu Paatelainen has always chipped in with goals. You don't simply lose that goalscoring ability. It was tough for them last season but we know how difficult it is for strikers in the Premiership and neither John nor Mixu played a full season because of their various injury problems. "They all need to get on the scoresheet in these pre-season games, not only Nathan. But it's also important they get the service."

McGinlay and Paatelainen are back in the squad after missing the Hull game through injury, as is midfielder Andy Todd. But Simon Coleman, Scott Sellars, Sasa Curcic and Scott Taylor have injuries and are unlikely to figure at The Racecourse.

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