IAN Evatt insists Ali Crawford will not be ushered towards the exit door at Wanderers.

The Scottish midfielder was loaned out to Tranmere Rovers in the second half of last season and last featured for Bolton in a 2-1 defeat, coincidentally at Prenton Park.

Evatt confirmed that his absence from any of the friendly squads thus far in pre-season has been solely down to injury.

“He’s had a calf injury that he had picked up over the summer, so we are waiting for him to come back and train. He isn’t ready yet,” the manager said.

It has been widely speculated that Crawford will be one of the first team players who Wanderers will look to move on this summer.

He had failed to hold down a regular starting place in League Two under Evatt last season but did have some success in Bolton’s last spell in League One under Keith Hill.

Asked if Crawford had a chance to break back into the side on his return from injury, Evatt said he could rule nothing out.

“Doors for all players are never shut really,” he said. “Obviously as you can see it is really competitive, so then it boils down to player decision.

“We are never going to boot anybody out of the football club. It is not the way I do things, but if players want regular first team football and we can’t guarantee them this, we won’t be standing in people’s way.”

Wanderers got a boost on Tuesday with the news that club skipper Antoni Sarcevic will not miss any further pre-season games after limping out of the win at Longridge with a hamstring injury.

Scans have shown no lasting damage, which could leave the midfielder free to return at FC United of Manchester on Saturday.

Wanderers will be without Eoin Doyle and Dennis Politic for the foreseeable future, however, with Evatt confirming that both players are currently self-isolating with Covid-19.