MJ Williams is ready to answer Wanderers’ SOS call at Accrington.

The midfielder has been out of commission for the last four games after dislocating his shoulder at Wycombe but is expected to be in the squad on Saturday at the Wham Stadium.

Ian Evatt’s side had managed to avoid defeat during his absence up until Tuesday night, when they were soundly beaten by Fleetwood.

Williams’ return should be a boost for a side that looked completely out of sorts at Highbury and, says Evatt, should give them different tactical options in midfield.

“Getting MJ back will certainly be important,” he told The Bolton News. “At the moment we have got two senior central midfield players so we have to adapt things to find a formation to adapt with and without the ball.

“Having him back in there will give us some versatility, which we have lacked with all the injuries, even though results have gone okay for us through November.”

Evatt says he had concerns about how his side would fare in December, given some of the key players who are currently side-lined through injury.

Being able to bring Williams back into the midfield at Accrington should help to shore up what has become a leaky ship away from home in recent weeks.

But Evatt has appealed for fans to judge him after he has had chance to boost his squad in January and to stand by the club in what could be a tough month with limited options.

“We need MJ but he is not the only one we need,” the manager said after the Fleetwood game. “This is not, believe it or not, something which has surprised me. I suspected that we were going to have a turbulent month.

“Did I expect to lose this game 3-0? Absolutely not, of course I didn’t want to lose it or expect to lose it, but we’re going to have some pain this month, there’s no doubt about that, and we have to stick together as a club.

“We have to wait for players to return and wait for the opportunity in January to regroup and restrengthen and have a good strong second half to the season.”

Wanderers have also opted to allow Liam Edwards to stay with Southport on loan but will be bringing Adam Senior back from York City after this weekend’s fixtures.

Ronan Darcy is also due to link up with the group soon but is unable to play in the league, as his loan at Sogndal means he cannot be registered until the next international window.

“Liam will be staying on loan at Southport for the time being,” Evatt confirmed. “The one position we are covered at the moment in centre-back.

“Adam can play in a few different positions, so he will finish his loan at York this week – he has a game Tuesday and Saturday – and after that he will be coming back to us.

“Ronan is due to return but can’t play until the next window, which is January.”

With options so limited in his squad at present, Evatt admits he would never have allowed Edwards, Senior or Darcy out on loan had he knew what was in store.

The decision to release former club captain Antoni Sarcevic was also made with the security of more midfield options.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I understand some of the fans who are frustrated that we have these lads out on loan,” he said. “If we had known what we know now, the storm we have faced with injuries, then of course we wouldn’t have let them out.

“But at the time it happened we were well-stocked. We had players for every position and these lads needed to go out and get games. We made that decision based on a normal injury load during the season but this hasn’t been a normal season so we have been punished for that.”

Wanderers posted a picture of Josh Sheehan on their social media accounts yesterday, as the Welshman come through his ACL reconstruction successfully.

Sheehan was injured in the FA Cup game against Stockport County and is not expected to play again for several months.

Harry Brockbank has returned to training after an Achilles tendon injury and could feature in the squad in the coming weeks.