GARETH Southgate ran the rule over some of Wanderers’ young guns at the weekend – which could be good news for defensive gem Rob Holding.

The England Under-21 boss watched the home-grown defender shut out promotion-chasing Hull City on Saturday after recommendations from Ken Anderson and Dean Holdsworth.

Southgate names his squad for the upcoming Toulon Tournament this week and though it may come too soon for the Wanderers ace, David Wheater believes it is high time Bolton’s promising players are considered again in international circles.

“It’s weird that they haven’t been given a shot,” he told The Bolton News. “I asked Josh Vela the other day if he’d ever been called up and he said he’d been on standby once.

“We have Zach Clough, Rob Holding, Josh Vela, none of them have had a chance.

“At Middlesbrough there were four or five of us in the same team. Here, no-one has had a chance in years.

“These lads can play. They are in the first team, they are playing regularly, and if it was Manchester United or Liverpool they’d be in there right away.”

The last Bolton player to win an England Under-21 cap was Fabrice Muamba, who made the last of his 33 appearances for his naturalised country in 2011. The same year Daniel Sturridge, then on loan from Chelsea, also made an appearance in the same side, facing Denmark.

Mark Davies was called up in 2009 but had to pull out of the squad bound to play Ecuador in Malaga through injury.

In between, Jack Wilshere made an appearance under Stuart Pearce while on loan from Arsenal, facing Greece at Doncaster Rovers’ Keepmoat Stadium in March 2010.

Going further back, Nicky Hunt earned 10 caps while at Wanderers, Alan Thompson also earned a handful of call-ups and Peter Reid – now on the interim coaching staff – became the club’s first-ever England Under-21 international when he faced Scotland at Bramall Lane in April 1977.

Wheater believes regular football for young gems like Tyler Garratt, Oscar Threlkeld and Niall Maher can also bring them on to a higher level.

But he admits Holding has progressed to a point he can’t pass on many more pearls of wisdom.

“He doesn’t want to see my tricks of the trade anyway,” Wheater said. “Rob has been brilliant. I try to look after him and talk to him but he’s top drawer, he doesn’t need much help any more.

“I remember when I was as quick as he is now. Hopefully he stays injury free and he can go on and get a couple of internationals behind him. Some of these lads really are capable of going on and doing top things in their career.”

Wheater praised Garratt for his performance against Hull City on Saturday, coming after a heart-breaking mistake at Cardiff on his debut.

“I think he’s been tremendous,” the defender said. “He gave away the penalty but I told him those things happen, you have to push it to one side and focus on your game, get on with it.

“I said to him strikers won’t give away penalties – it’s the defenders and goalkeepers who get the blame when goals go in.

“He played well against Hull and it didn’t seem to affect him at all.”

With just one more game to play in the Championship, attention has already turned towards rebuilding the squad for next season.

And Wheater is confident the young core of the Whites squad can cope with the more physical challenge League One presents.

“It’ll be a horrible division to get out of,” he said. “I played there for Doncaster on loan when I was about 18 – it’s so scrappy.

“You’ve seen a lot of young lads come through and they have done really well. I think they can shine in League One and get the club back up.

“They won’t feel any pressure, they’ll just get on with the job at hand and hopefully they can do the business.”

Out of contract in the summer, Wheater is still hopeful of coming to some arrangement to stay on and guide his younger team-mates to success next term.

His 28 appearances so far this season represents his best return since 2012 and the former Middlesbrough man revealed the secret to his success came from a rather surprising medical revelation.

“I went to see a specialist and he said one of my legs was longer than the other,” he said. “He put these things in my boots and my back felt perfect.

“My boots split the game before Nottingham Forest and I don’t know whether that had anything to do with me getting an injury.

“They have helped me a lot. I just want to keep on going now, get another game under my belt next week and then see what happens.”