DOUGIE Freedman has warned Wanderers’ stars that the days of automatic selection are over.

Boosted by the return of Mark Davies, Stuart Holden and David Wheater, the Whites boss now has virtually his strongest squad available heading into the last third of the campaign.

Just Matt Mills and Keith Andrews remain on the sidelines, but with their comeback only a matter of weeks away, Freedman is excited by the options he now has at his disposal.

After sounding a battle cry to claim his side can still make the play-offs with a late-season push, the Scot has now sent out a message on the eve of this afternoon’s clash at Nottingham Forest to underline his plan for the future.

And Freedman has promised every member of his first team squad that they have a role to play in what he hopes will be a successful finale to the campaign.

Speaking to The Bolton News, the manager pledged to continue rotating his players to combat the hurly-burly of Championship football.

“This is the modern day game and in it you simply have to rotate your squad,” he said.

“There are plenty of people on the payroll here, so why wouldn’t you use them all?

“Everyone has got a part to play and you’ll soon see that from my selections. Everyone will get an opportunity but the whole squad has got to understand that I play certain players in certain games in order to get a result.

“If that frustrates some people then all I can really do is explain to them why I am doing it.”