PHIL Parkinson doesn’t want Wanderers to get “left behind” in the January transfer window.

Despite stretching their unbeaten run to six games at Preston North End on Friday night, the improving Whites remain in the bottom three of the Championship with six weeks to go until they can find reinforcements.

Indications from the Macron suggest the club are monitoring the loan market to strengthen their hand – and Parkinson underlined his ambitions after the final whistle at Deepdale.

“We can’t deplete the squad, it has to be improved,” he told The Bolton News. “No talks have taken place yet with players but we know we have to make our squad stronger.

“Myself, the chairman, Tim Breacker, Lee Anderson are speaking all the time about that. Financially, we haven’t sat down and said ‘we need X amount’ but we know we need to get stronger.

“January is a stage where teams down the bottom look to improve and you might see some money splashed around because no-one wants to go out of the division.”

Wanderers have four loan players in the camp at present – Everton’s Antonee Robinson and Newcastle United’s Adam Armstrong were in the starting line-up at Preston, while West Ham pairing Reece Burke and Josh Cullen have fallen out of favour in recent weeks.

All of the players are due back at their parent clubs in January, although it is understood a gentleman’s agreement remains in place with Premier League Everton for Robinson to remain at the Macron through to the second half of the Championship campaign.

Parkinson can only play five loanees in any one match-day squad, which means he may face some tough decisions over the coming weeks. The Whites boss admits he may have to ‘juggle’ to ensure all positions are covered.

“It’s possible,” he said. “We’re looking all the time to see how we can make things better.

“The first aim is to make sure we get to January in as challenging position as possible. The last six games we’ve given ourselves a chance.

“The second job is to make sure that if other teams are improving in January we do too. We don’t want to get left behind.”