WANDERERS will have to make a late call on Ricardo Santos’s involvement against Charlton Athletic.

Whites assistant Stephen Crainey confirmed the centre-half was dealing with a persistent injury which eventually forced him off the pitch in Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Cambridge United.

He will be given every opportunity to start Tuesday night’s game at the Toughsheet Stadium, however, continuing a record which has seen him miss just one league match this season.

“He has got a bit of a groin issue, so we’re not too sure whether he is going to be OK for the game but we will leave him until the last minute and make a call on that,” said Crainey, who also confirmed new loan signing Alex Murphy is eligible for a place in the squad.

Eoin Toal has joined in with full training this week and could also be included in the squad.

The Northern Ireland international has played just 63 minutes of football since the end of October but with Santos patched up, Bolton are hoping Toal will be clear of the hamstring problems which have kept him out of action.

“Hopefully it is a clean bill of health and we can go into this game confident and looking to win,” Crainey said. “Toal trained today so hopefully he is not going to be far away. When it will be I am not too sure but it is really good to see him on the grass.

“He brings a lot of qualities to the group, he is good around the place, a positive character, and it’s great to see him back.”

Wanderers face another Saturday-Tuesday double with a trip to Dion Charles’ Huddersfield and another home game against Kevin Nolan’s Northampton Town after Charlton but Crainey says his players have to focus on the first task at hand.

“We have analysed since the game finished against Cambridge and we’ll be going into this game positive and looking to win,” he said. “We’ll need to do the right things in order to do that.

“League One is relentless but the good thing is that there is always another opportunity that comes along quickly to win a game.

“We are not looking any further forward at the moment than Charlton. We want the three points and it will be a tough game but we’ll get on the front foot early on and try to win it.

“We are a big club at Bolton Wanderers and we want to win as many games as we can between now and the end of the season. It’s a challenge against Charlton, they are a good side, but we are a good side as well so hopefully we can implement our style on the game and win it.”