HAD Neil Lennon got his way four years ago, Chris Eagles may never have played for Wanderers.

Back then, whilst in charge of Celtic, the Northern Irishman tried to convince Eagles, then a Burnley winger, to sign for him at Parkhead ahead of rumoured interest from Glasgow rivals Rangers.

History tells us that Owen Coyle won that particular tug-of-war and the former Manchester United man embarked on a rollercoaster three years with Bolton, which ended on such an acrimonious note in the summer after a high-profile dispute with Dougie Freedman.

Eagles has been without a club ever since, at least until this week when he signed a short-term deal to play for Blackpool, who host Lennon’s Wanderers at Bloomfield Road tomorrow.

The coincidence is not lost on the Whites boss, and though he doubts whether Eagles it fit enough to feature for the Seasiders, he has backed the 29-year-old to add a spark if called upon.

“Chris is another one of those I looked at when I was in charge at Celtic, before he went to Bolton, in fact,” he told The Bolton News.

“I spoke to him personally on the phone at that stage but he decided he wanted to stay in the North West at that time.

“I’m not convinced he’ll play because he hasn’t kicked a ball in six months but we’ll see.

“He’s talented, no doubt about it, and he may have a point to prove. But I’d hope every single one of my players have a point to prove if they want to stay in my team.”

Successive wins before the international break lifted Wanderers out of the relegation zone for the first time since September 20.

Lennon claimed immediately on his arrival at the Macron that climbing out of the bottom three was his only aim, and having achieved it, he has set his immediate sights on staying clear of trouble.

“We need to push on, it has been a decent start, but not a great one,” he said.

“We’ve got 29 games to go and when I came in there was 35 – I said at the time, that’s a season in some countries.

“There is a long way to go, so it’s hard to make any predictions. If there is one thing that is true about every Championship club it’s that they are unpredictable.

“There isn’t one team really running away with it and I don’t think that any one team will be cast adrift.”