WANDERERS may well go by the old adage ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ when they face Northampton Town this afternoon.

Having settled into a pattern of play of the course of October and November there is a steely resilience to the Whites at present, even allowing for the absence of key men like Mark Howard and David Wheater.

Seven wins out of eight in the league and two more clean sheets to add to the pile for Phil Parkinson’s men in the last week is good news for everyone at the Macron, except of course those players looking to break into the team.

A queue is forming outside the starting 11 with the likes of James Henry, Chris Taylor, Lewis Buxton, Keshi Anderson and Max Clayton all waiting patiently for an opportunity to stake their claim.

And with things running so smoothly on the pitch, managing said group is perhaps the biggest challenge faced by Parkinson at the moment.

No new injury problems were reported ahead of the team’s first-ever trip to Sixfields and Liam Trotter’s return from suspension means at least one extra body to add to the squad.

They will soon be joined by Darren Pratley, who is back on light training duties, and Wheater, whose back injury appears to be on the mend after a scare late last week.

Having options is a problem many managers crave, and Parkinson is no different.

“The key for us at the moment is to make sure the lads who have not been in the team get the right training when we’ve had a midweek game,” he told The Bolton News. “They need to be ready if we need them, we need to keep the spirits up, but also they have to have an opportunity to show they and worthy of a chance.

“Look at Tom Thorpe – he came off the bench and produced the right kind of impact and then kept his place in the team.

“That could happen for any one of the players who have been out of the team. Yes, they might need to be a bit patient but they all have enough quality and have played at a good enough level to think they will get that chance.”

Clayton’s appearance as a substitute late in the EFL Trophy game against Cheltenham was warmly received by fans but his absence from the squad in the last couple of weeks has raised concern.

Parkinson insists the young striker, who has had such demoralising injury problems in his time with the Whites, is merely biding his time.

“Max is fine,” he said. “We have got players out of the team at the moment who have to push their way into the thinking.

“Whether it’s a five minute cameo, 20 minutes, or something in training they have got to knock someone out of the team and put pressure on them.

“What I can say is that the way players out of the team have been training, their attitude, has been very, very good. That is hugely important for the group and morale as a whole.

“Max will get a chance and when he does, I am confident he will make an impact. He has got too much quality not to get one at some point.”

Wheater is likely to miss out this weekend but will be back for the FA Cup second round clash with Sheffield United.

Derik Osede has impressed in his absence, meaning even one of the club’s most consistent performers is not guaranteed an immediate return to the team. But Parkinson is glad that the big defender is not ruled out long-term as many feared he may be last week.

“Wheater is making good progress,” he said. “A couple of years ago he had a back problem and it went into spasm. And it seems this was more of a worry on his behalf.

“Once it has settled down he has been much happier. He has been back out doing some running, so fingers crossed there is no reaction to that and he can carry on training next week.”