IAN Evatt says Billy Crellin and Tom White have a fight on their hands to get back into the Wanderers side, regardless of their loan circumstances.

Both Fleetwood Town and Blackburn Rovers would have been hopeful of their players getting plenty of game time when they made agreements for goalkeeper Crellin and midfielder White respectively.

The pair began the season at the forefront of Evatt’s thinking but have found themselves on the bench in recent weeks after a poor start to the campaign.

The Bolton boss says players must earn their place in his starting XI and be there on merit, casting doubt on whether Crellin and White will see out their season-long loan deals with Wanderers.

“I think in all loans, especially season-long ones there is always an option to recall in January just in case things aren’t working out the way both parties want them to,” the Bolton boss explained.

“In both cases they’ve both played games this season and had opportunities and they’ve found themselves out of team now so from my perspective this is football and it’s part of football.

“It’s not going to be all sweetness and light, you have to come out of the team sometimes and then fight hard to get back in it and make sure you’re doing everything right on the training pitch to get in the manager’s eye and when you get the opportunity, take it.

“It’s the same for everybody whether you’re a loan player or not.”

Crellin and White are likely to be on the bench again for this afternoon’s visit of Southend United with Evatt likely to name an unchanged side after stretching their winning run to four games at Scunthorpe United in midweek.

While the continuity in selection has brought stability and contributed to Wanderers’ upturn in form, Evatt has mixed feelings about the team picking itself on form.

“Obviously if we’re naming the same team it means the players are playing well and we’re getting the right results. It also makes my job more difficult because you’ve got to keep the rest of them happy,” he said.

“Football changes really quickly and it’s down to them to show me that they’re ready to play when called upon and when they do play they take their chance and opportunity because football does change quickly.”