MATT Mills is ready to dive headlong into the new season – but admits the defenders are still in the dark over who will get the nod against Burnley.

The £2million summer signing will most likely slug it out for a starting place with Zat Knight and Tim Ream at Turf Moor, but feels everyone will get a chance with such a congested fixture list in the Championship season.

Wanderers face Burnley, Derby County and Nottingham Forest inside the first week and Mills reckons it's a healthy sign that no-one is guaranteed their starting place.

“You come to a big club like Bolton and you don’t expect to walk into the team,” he said. “There’s good players in every position and, at the back, the club are going to need all three of us this season – and David Wheater when he comes back – so hopefully we can be fresh and at it.

“I think everyone’s excited, and, hopefully the fans are too. We’ve got three games in the first six days so it’s going to come thick and fast, but I’m certainly looking forward to it.”

Mills has been happy with his “smooth transition” to life at the Reebok, and feels he has already made the first correct call of his Bolton career after electing to sit on the sidelines on the club’s return from the pre-season tour of Scotland.

“I had felt a bit of tightening through my thigh,” he said. “It’s so frustrating missing training and games but I’m glad I did it because it only meant I missed a week and a bit instead of a couple of months if I’d gone and torn it.

“The medical staff treated it well and pulled me out, so now I’m feeling fit and strong.”

Meanwhile, Ream is hoping a successful season as an established first-teamer with Wanderers will help him get back into the international set-up. The 24-year-old made his debut for the United States in 2010 but has been left out of Jurgen Klinsmann’s recent plans and was overlooked when the German named his squad for tomorrow’s game in Mexico.

Ream – who has only started 13 games for Wanderers so far – feels he will be better placed to hold down a regular spot for his country once he has fully established himself at the Reebok.

“You want to be in every camp and every game but the realisation is that there are other players fighting for that spot as well,” he said. “I just have to continue to improve and show well in games, then eventually when the call does come I’ll be ready.

“I’ve said to friends and family I thought it was a bit premature, a bit early for me to be thrown in the international team. It was a great experience and it’s something I’ll learn from, but now I’ve got an opportunity to build on what I have.”