Gethin Jones’ Australian call-up puts Bolton Wanderers to the test Gethin Jones will miss the majority of Wanderers’ New Year’s games after being called up to Australia for the Asian Cup.
The Bolton News reported last night that the Bolton vice-captain was due to be included in Graham Arnold’s squad for the first time and was therefore excluded from selection after the game at Fleetwood on December 29th.
Perth-born Jones will travel to Qatar for the six-week tournament, which guarantees group games against India, Uzbekistan and Syria.
The final will be held on February 10th.
Jack Airdale was not selected and Carlos Mendes Gomez is also expected to be confirmed for Guinea-Bissau in the Africa Cup of Nations and will be ruled out from after the Boxing Day match at Lincoln City until the end of his participation.
The Wanderers are already considering replacing midfielder Mendes Gomez, but Jones’ absence will create a whole new set of problems for centre-back and full-back Evatt.
Asked if this call-up could affect plans for next month’s transfer window, he replied: “Yes.
As I said, we’re always looking and we feel like we have a good list of players to recruit.
But you’ll have to monitor the situation once you get there.
“We’ve done a lot of work and we’re really confident in the information we’ve gathered, but we don’t have to make some decisions until January.” Evatt says Jones will participate in the tournament He said he intended to do so.
Bolton remains frustrated that there is no process for clubs to be compensated as the competition is organized by the Asian Football Confederation rather than FIFA or UEFA.
“I’m not worried at all about Guess wanting to play for Australia and participate in the tournament,” he said.
“I think this shows where he is in his career and I’m really happy for him.
“My argument is based on the lack of compensation for us.
“I don’t think that’s right, we have to pay wages, there’s the risk of injury, and if the club loses the players are out for six weeks.
” “I don’t think that’s right.
I think it’s unfair, but I have no problem with players wanting to represent their country and I hope Gethin represents the club and I’m sure he will.
“We expect Australia to be pretty high up in this competition, so he won’t be back in our group until early February.Of course we wish him and Australia all the best.
” Evatt will be hoping to record his 100th win as Wanderers manager this weekend when the team host Leyton Orient at Tuffsheet Stadium.
I was disappointed that the team’s standard wavered at times against Oxford, Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers, but I’m now hoping the players can live up to it.
“The way I see it, the game is all about us,” he said.
“This is no disrespect to the opposition, because everyone has a plan and everyone wants to win.
But I believe in the team and we proved that if we put everything together and perform well, it will be difficult to stop.
“We just need to focus on ourselves and strive to be better.
“
Leave a Reply