PHIL Parkinson warned his players not to bother boarding the coach to Wimbledon yesterday if they don’t believe Wanderers can end their away jinx.

It is closing in on 500 days and counting since the Whites last won on the road, and only three squad members remain from that sun-kissed afternoon in Cardiff.

Dean Moxey, Liam Trotter and Josh Vela were the only survivors from the squad Neil Lennon named on April 6, 2015, when the vista back home at the Macron Stadium was very different indeed.

Saddled with no end of baggage since then, Wanderers’ poor form on their travels has started to attract national attention. Tuesday night’s defeat at Blackpool – albeit in the EFL Cup – attracted a modicum of sarcasm from a well-known national bookmaker on social media.

The barren run stands today at 495 days but as Parkinson prepared to make the journey south with his squad yesterday from the Macron Stadium, he let The Bolton News in on his pre-match address to the players.

“You can’t hide away from the statistic because it’s there starring you in the face,” he told The Bolton News. “I won’t be referring too much to it in the build up to the game with regards to the past, maybe more towards the future.

“Wins on the road are very hard-earned. One thing I know from my time as a player and a manager is that you can have no passengers. Everyone who gets on that coach, whether you are a member of staff or a player, has got to be ready to play their part in a victory.

“If we go into that game and three or four players aren’t quite ready to roll their sleeves up then we’ll get back on the coach with nothing.

“That’s our message to the players. Whatever system we play, with whatever personnel we play, it’s about everyone doing their bit to bring those points back aboard that coach.

“Every point is hard-earned. You have to dig deep and be ready for a bit of adversity, for a few decisions to go against you here and there.

“It’s a challenge I am looking forward to and I can see in the eyes of the players that they are looking forward to it too.”

Jamie Proctor’s goal against Blackpool in midweek might just have secured him a starting spot at the Cherry Red Records Stadium, with Zach Clough also passed fit to play.

Parkinson confirmed that Derik Osede will not be in contention this weekend but could return in a week to feature against Fleetwood Town after a minor groin problem.

Parkinson has lost on his two previous trips to Wimbledon with Bradford City and has warned his side they will be regarded as a scalp by a side still seeking its first win of the campaign.

“It’s a tight, compact ground and it’s their first home game at this level so we’re expecting a good atmosphere from the amount of people who will be there,” he said. “You expect home sides to start quick, we have to be ready.

“We know how they will play and there is an element of the old Wimbledon in the way they go about things.

“We have to match them first and foremost. I spoke to the players about it this morning and we’ll do so again before the game.

“I can’t wait to get down there and neither can they. We’re all a bit frustrated after Tuesday but we’ll use that.”

Wimbledon’s journey up the Football League to the FA Cup in 1988 was one of the true fairytales of the game until the club’s disintegration when it moved to Milton Keynes.

Parkinson paid due respect to the work done by the re-formed club to haul themselves back out of the non-leagues all the way to League One but does not want his side to go down in history as a major scalp.

“You look at what happened at the club and for the fans to build it all the way back up again was something very special,” he said. “I know Terry Brown did a huge amount of work initially and Neal Ardley has done a terrific job taking it on.

“All credit to what they have achieved but we don’t want to be part of their story.

“We are focused on what we have to do to bring points back to Bolton.”