PHIL Parkinson has called on Wanderers to get “smarter” as they take on familiar foes Millwall at The Den.

The Whites boss expects no hidden surprises against a side he beat home and away in League One last season.

But after watching the Whites make a couple of uncharacteristic defensive errors against Leeds United last weekend, Parkinson is demanding quick improvement from the outset.

“I want the team switched on from the first kick and tuned into the smarter mentality we showed away from home last season,” he told The Bolton News. “We put ourselves under pressure by conceding early goals last week. We’ve watched them through, we know where we need to improve.

“I saw character in the way we battled back but we are not patting ourselves on the back about it because we lost the game 3-2.”

Parkinson dealt out some good news on the eve of the game, reporting there had been no further problems with a virus which affected preparations for the Crewe cup clash on Wednesday night.

Changes could be made this afternoon after a handful of players furthered their cause in midweek – but injured trio Josh Vela, David Wheater and Sammy Ameobi remain unavailable.

“There are definitely players who performed well at Crewe who, if they don’t play, can consider themselves very unlucky,” he said.

“We’re carrying a few injuries but when you look around the country that is the case at a lot of clubs, so we can’t sit here feeling sorry about it.

“I made 10 changes at Crewe and I was pleased at the quality of football we played, that tells me we have got a decent squad of players.”

Millwall have made a few changes over the summer, signing two players who were strongly linked with a move to Bolton.

Full-backs Conor McLaughlin and James Meredith were on a list of players who interested Parkinson but the Wanderers boss says he did not come close to signing them.

“We didn’t go very far down the line,” he said. “They are both good players but we went in a different direction in the end.”