JIMMY Phillips won’t be pulling Zach Clough out of the intense spotlight at Bristol City tomorrow.

The Wanderers youngster is preparing for a rough ride from the Ashton Gate fans after turning down a move to the West Country in January.

Clough later fanned the flames by branding Bolton “a bigger club” but has since seen his words come back to haunt him as the Robins clambered their way to safety under new boss Lee Johnson.

Phillips believes the 21-year-old, one of the finest to come out of his academy crop, has the right temperament to cope with any stick that may come his way.

“I think Zach will be fine,” he told The Bolton News. “When he first burst on to the scene with the amount of goals he scored it catapulted him into the spotlight.

“He seemed to cope with the attention of the nation’s media very well.

“He is a very level-headed young man so, yes, if he gets an unwelcome response from Bristol City I’m sure he’ll cope with it fine.”

The Wanderers dressing room seemed a fragmented place in the latter days of Neil Lennon’s reign, with flare-ups hitting the headlines more often than not.

Gary Madine, Wellington Silva, Lawrie Wilson, Josh Vela – even Clough himself – all bore the brunt of the Northern Irishman’s frustrations at the team’s poor form.

Phillips doesn’t feel he is there to put out fires and anticipates a very different mood in the camp over the next couple of days.

But the interim boss has warned one or two of the senior players could be facing the chop as he examines all the options available for next season.

“I’ve seen one two players on my way up to speak with you and they are bright and enthusiastic,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll have any problems with anyone’s attitude, they seem like they’re looking forward to training.

“Obviously one or two will be left disappointed when I name the squad and the team but that’s part and parcel of football, they have to accept that.

“I don’t think there is going to be an issue with picking players up – there will probably be a few cases where players get an opportunity when they didn’t think they were going to get one.”

Bristol City won the league and cup double last season but have found the going tough in the second tier.

They are yet to score more than two goals against any opposition this season but the loan additions of Nathan Baker, Lee Tomlin and Peter Odemwingie have helped to ease them away from the bottom three in the last few weeks.

Phillips dived headlong into his homework after being appointed by Dean Holdsworth on Tuesday and put his players through a long training session yesterday.

“I came in on Wednesday and looked at the video analysis clips of Bristol City,” he explained.

“I know with Lee Johnson coming in not so long ago that they’ve had an upturn in results and performances, he’s certainly had a big impact in turning their season round.

“It’ll be a tough game at Ashton Gate, we know that, but I am confident we’ll be prepared for them.”