WITH the pay issue resolved off the field, Phil Parkinson is finally able to give his full focus to matters on the pitch this afternoon.

And the manager says the fact his staff and players’ wages were paid by chairman Ken Anderson yesterday morning was a timely morale boost.

Wanderers will take any help available as they look to topple a Leeds side riding high in the promotion places and coming into the game on the back of four straight wins.

But recent outings, not least his side’s highly creditable defeat at Norwich last week, gives Parkinson confidence they can get their season back on track today.

“We’ve got our focus back on training this week and we’ve got a fantastic game tomorrow, a Battle of the Roses, and we’ve got to make it a really feisty encounter and that’s what we’re looking to do,” he told The Bolton News. “It’s huge for everybody, everyone has been paid this morning which is good, it’s a lift for everybody. It just settles everything down again and we can just concentrate on the weekend.

“We’ve gone to Norwich and upset the apple cart, we ruffled a few feathers with the way we played. We’ve got to do exactly the same on our home patch tomorrow against Leeds.

“They’ve obviously got good players and they’re flying high in the league. We’ve got to get tight to them, close them down and play from that base, we can make it a very difficult afternoon for them. And that’s what we have to look to do.

“It’s a Battle of the Roses and they are always spicy affairs, we really enjoy being involved in the Lancashire derbies but sometimes there is a bit more of an edge when it’s Lancashire against Yorkshire.

“The lads are looking forward to it, and our approach and mentality is that we’ve got to make this game really uncomfortable for Leeds, we don’t want their flair players to come off the pitch saying ‘I enjoyed that game, there was loads of space on the pitch, I got loads of touches.’

“We’ve got to make it really difficult and make it feisty.”

Second-placed Leeds can replace Norwich in top spot with a result at the University of Bolton Stadium today as they look to return to the top flight.

And Parkinson is full of admiration for the job their Argentine boss Marcelo Bielsa has done since coming to England, particularly in installing a tireless off-the-ball work ethic in their creativity department.

“He’s got the flair players in the team running round and closing down players out of possession,” added Parkinson.

“That’s probably the difference from last year when, at times the flair players were great on the ball but not so good without it, we stress to our lads all the time that the top teams in the Champions League and the top of the Premier League do both sides of the game, getting quality players to run and play with real motivation week in, week out.

“You don’t want Leeds to get into a rhythm. Possession-wise they’re up there in the stats and it’s important we don’t let them get into that rhythm.

“They’re a similar team to last season, there have not been too many changes in terms of personnel so we know what to expect and we’ve got to be ready for them.”