THE waiting game looks like it will continue this weekend for Will Aimson despite a stellar show in the centre of defence against Morecambe.

Club captain Ricardo Santos is due back from suspension as the Whites welcome Sheffield Wednesday to the University of Bolton Stadium, which will almost certainly mean Aimson stepping side as Ian Evatt returns to his familiar defensive triumvirate.

Should he return to the bench there will surely be a degree of sympathy among the Bolton fans, who were quick to praise his role in securing a third successive league clean sheet for the club on Tuesday night.

Aimson has been on the losing side just once in his last 13 starts and finished off last season at centre-back after Santos picked up a hamstring injury. Morecambe was his first league start of the current campaign, however, and Evatt may now face quandary at centre-half, a position which historically has been tougher to employ squad rotation as he does in other areas of the pitch.

“It’s tough for Will because obviously he can play centrally, Rico’s our captain and an outstanding player and Gethin Jones our vice-captain, who has also been outstanding for us,” Evatt reasoned.

“But I do think Will is outstanding as well and he’s a brilliant option and things change really quickly in football. We’ve seen what happened on Saturday, he steps in and plays brilliantly.

“The way he goes about things, the way he goes around training, the quality that he provides, the leadership skills he provides, all the players like him. I can’t speak highly enough of him and we really think he’s a really important player for us and appreciate what he does.”

Such problems will hopefully become more prevalent over the next few weeks as Lloyd Isgrove, Josh Sheehan and new signing Eoin Toal return to full fitness and stake their claim for a spot in the matchday squad.

Evatt has spoken publicly about his forward planning, particularly with so many midweek matches during August. And he confirmed that the five changes he made to the side against Morecambe had been pre-meditated, rather than a reaction to the conditions at Port Vale on Saturday.

“Yeah. It was always planned to make that many changes,” he said. “We have a really good squad of players and I trust them all to play a part so it is about managing that with the right players for the right occasion.

“Hopefully we can get some more freshness back in for Saturday.”

Wanderers worked hard to establish a lead against Morecambe on Tuesday night but arguably harder to extend it in the second half, without success.

Aimson and Co limited Morecambe to just one obvious scoring opportunity – a header placed just wide by Bolton old-boy Ryan Delaney – and the team had little chance on the night to conserve energy.

Asked if fatigue could have played some part in an often frustrating second-half performance, Evatt said: “Possibly and that’s only natural with the effort we had to put into Port Vale on Saturday in that heat, but the players are fit. You have seen with some of their counter attacks how quickly we chase back and regain and our reaction in transition is first class.

“The boys worked really hard in pre-season and I think they’re going to see the benefits of that. Now it’s about rest, recovery and going again on Saturday.”

Evatt will also return to the dugout against Wednesday, having sampled the directors’ box during his one-game suspension.

While he felt comfortable watching his side move the ball around from above, he will be happy to return to his natural habitat on the touchline.

“It’s not for me,” he said. “I didn’t necessarily enjoy it, I enjoyed the seats, Sharon was good company.

“I was down (in the dressing room) at half-time as I had a bit to say. But it is all done with now, it is finished and we’ll move on.”