PHIL Parkinson is hoping for good news on David Wheater’s back injury as the week progresses.

After leaving the training ground in considerable pain on Friday, the centre-half was forced to pull out of the squad due to face Millwall and also sat out last night’s match against Coventry City.

Wheater has been ever-present in the league up to the weekend but Parkinson is keeping his fingers crossed that one of his most consistent performers since taking charge in the summer is not ruled out for the long term.

Explaining the unfortunate circumstances of the injury, the Wanderers boss admits there has been an improvement in the 29-year-old’s condition over the last 48 hours, raising hope the problem is not a serious one.

“He has settled down a bit more now but he was very, very worried on Friday, as you can imagine,” Parkinson told The Bolton News.

“You can imagine our frustration too. On Friday the weather was bad so we walked through some organisational stuff on the Astro-Turf as an injury prevention method – but as he walked off he struck a ball and felt a pain in his back, which at the time looked like nothing but as it progressed got to the stage he couldn’t get back in his car.

“It was a worry and we won’t know until later this week what the extent is – but the good news is he looked a lot happier today.

“He will be seeing the medical people later in the week and we’ll have a better idea of what it is then.”

Wheater’s history of back and hamstring issues appeared to be behind him – and Parkinson admits they have forced the medical team to be ultra-cautious this time around.

“I think sometimes when you’ve had problems in the past you do worry more. I’m hoping it’s a bit more of that,” he added.