WANDERERS will pit their wits against a familiar face this weekend when they begin their pre-season preparations at Atherton Colls.

While a youthful Whites side is expected to take the field at Alder House, it’s the presence of an experienced head in Nicky Hunt in the opposite dugout that might catch the eye.

The former England Under-21 international, who made 161 appearances for Wanderers between 2001 and 2010, has recently signed a deal with League Two club Mansfield Town.

But the Daisy Hill based defender has continued to lend a hand at Colls, and manager Michael Clegg believes his input could be crucial in preparing for the North West Counties Premier after last season’s promotion.

“He’s been a massive help to us in pre-season,” Clegg explained. “Hunty has supported us for a while – three or four years - but this year he’s been better than ever.

“His personal standards are so high. At first he was maybe a little shy of passing on advice but now he’s happy to pull players to one side and speak to them individually, speak about positioning, which will be really important against Bolton because we might not see a lot of the ball.

“He’s been working with some of the players for three years now and they’ve really taken to him.

“He even came out on the end-of-season party and got a round in – so he’s alright by us!”

Wanderers now fly out for their pre-season fitness camp earlier than planned, heading for their base in the Styrian region of Austria on Sunday.

And while that is likely to mean the team at Colls will be made up primarily of development squad players and David Lee’s exciting Under-18s, Clegg anticipates a stern challenge.

“It will be a very big test for us,” he said. “Technically you know Bolton will be very good. We’ve worked hard on certain aspects of our game but we’ve got a very fit bunch of lads so I haven’t got any worries.

“They’ve also got a winning mentality after the success we had last season. We lost something like six out of 60 games, so we don’t need to be frightened of playing anyone.

“More than anything it will be a chance for us to say thank you to our fans. We only got the medals for winning the league three weeks after the season ended, so with a good crowd we’ll be presenting the players with their prizes on the pitch. I think it’ll be a great atmosphere.”

More than 500 tickets have already been sold for the game, and will continue to be available at a discounted price Bolton Central until Friday afternoon priced at £5 for adults, £3 concessions. Fans can pay on the turnstiles on the day at £7 for adults, £4 concessions.

Club secretary Emil Anderson believes it is the first meeting of its kind between the two clubs and is expecting a bumper gate.

“It’s a massive day for the club whatever side Bolton choose to put out,” he said. “We know that most of the committee members at the club are Bolton fans and it’s also a big day for the players and management.

“It’s the game we always wanted but for one reason or another have never got to arrange it. So when they called up it was a no brainer.”