WANDERERS could recall Alex Baptiste from derby rivals Blackburn Rovers in the January window.

Neil Lennon ran a check on the versatile defender, on loan at Ewood Park, in their 2-0 win over Charlton on Saturday.

Baptiste departed Bolton under somewhat of a cloud in the summer after a fall-out with previous boss Dougie Freedman.

But he has been a hit down the road with Rovers and could fill a right-back slot which has proved a troublesome one for Lennon since his arrival.

The former Blackpool defender still has a year left on his contract but is unable to play against his parent club this afternoon.

“We’re looking at the situation,” he told The Bolton News.

“We have given it some thought. He can’t play on Boxing Day but we haven’t spoken to the player or seen what his feelings on the situation are.

“I thought he played quite well the other day and Blackburn played well as a team too.”

Lennon has been complimentary about youngster Josh Vela’s performances in the back four after the midfielder switched to a defensive role to cover for the injured Kevin McNaughton in late October.

McNaughton is now back in the frame after a hamstring problem but bringing Baptiste – who can play right across the back four – could give the Whites boss options and lessen the financial load on Blackburn, who are looking to cut costs to come out of a transfer embargo.

Regardless of the £40million losses reported by Rovers earlier in the week, Lennon feels his opponents are coming back into some form.

“They lost their previous two but Rhodes is back scoring goals, so that’s a danger to anyone,” he said.

“I was quite impressed by Blackburn actually, they played well against Charlton and got off to an excellent start.

“Having said that, we’re playing well too. It should be an excellent game for the spectators.”

Wanderers are expecting a crowd topping 20,000 for the derby, with Rovers having sold out their away allocation of just over 4,500.

Lennon also has a concern over a few first team players who have been suffering from a flu bug sweeping round the dressing room.

Eidur Gudjohnsen and Vela have both been laid low over the last fortnight and the Whites boss is keeping his fingers crossed that everyone will remain fit – and that Emile Heskey’s signing can be wrapped up in time for kick-off.

“It is a bit of a worry, a few have suffered from the flu, but I hope the squad we had against Millwall should be available to me again.”