WILL Aimson knows he has a fight on his hands to dislodge the established defensive order at Wanderers this season.

The former Blackpool and Plymouth centre-half arrives this summer to contest a centre-half spot with two of last season’s promotion heroes, Alex Baptiste and Ricardo Santos, plus another of Bolton’s new additions, George Johnston.

Aimson is not daunted at the prospect, however, and believes rivalry between the quartet will be a good thing for the club in League One.

“Competition should get the best out of people,” he told The Bolton News. “Before Bolton had made any signings this summer they had a strong squad but adding to it as they have, it feels really solid.

“You look at centre-half and it is very competitive. I’ve done homework, watched Bolton play, I’ve spoken to Sarce (Antoni Sarcevic) about the team, and I’ve had chats with the gaffer about the way they play. I really am excited by the challenge of trying to get into this team.

“I respect this is a team and a defence that has got the club promoted – but I am really looking forward to testing myself now and seeing if I can get in there.”

Wanderers will report for regular training at Lostock until Friday and decide on whether to decamp to Scotland next week.

Ian Evatt is keen to keep his players together as much as possible over the coming weeks to ensure the dressing room bond which proved so important in the second half of last season carries through.

Aimson recognises the importance of getting new players like himself on the same page as quickly as possible.

“I am 27 now so I am starting to become one of the more experienced ones, and anyone who asks me what it takes to get promoted, 70 per cent of it is the spirit of the team. The rest of it, the talent, tops it off.

“I remember at Bury, to get promoted despite everything that had happened there was quite something and it was all down to that sense of unity between us and the coaching staff.

“Obviously, this squad, the players who have come through from last season will still be buzzing and it’s up to me and the other new lads to come in and help that continue.”

Aimson still looks back with regret on the season he spent at Bury, which ended in promotion from League Two but with the club heading off a financial cliff.

“Through the season you saw little things here and there, you knew trouble was coming,” he said. “We tried not to think about it or dwell on it while we were playing because we knew where we were in the league and that there was a chance of getting promoted.

“But then obviously the situation was going on, you didn’t know if there would be a club the next year, and you have to think about injuries and what would happen. There were all sorts of emotions. You had people with kids, houses and mortgages, it wasn’t nice.

“For me, personally, it was all about promotion – that was all that was in my mind. It was what I’d set out to do. I couldn’t throw that in with eight games to go, it wasn’t in my nature.

“I was carrying an injury and after we’d got promotion at Bury I was able to assess what was going on. In the end, it was great to be taken down to Plymouth with the manager there and a few of the other boys and staff.

“What has happened there is tragic and the club will always have a place in my heart. It was one of the most enjoyable seasons I have had.”