Davies close to Bolton return

Bolton midfielder Mark Davies is confident of being fit for the start of pre-season training next month.

The 23-year-old missed the closing five games of last season with an ankle injury that required surgery in May.

The problem also forced him to pull out of England contention for the European Under-21 Championship in Denmark.

Davies told the club’s website, www.bwfc.co.uk: “I’ve not felt any pain in my ankle for a couple of weeks now so everything seems to be progressing well.

“I’m aiming to start running again later this week and then hopefully I should be set to start full pre-season training with the rest of the lads when they are back on July 4.

“Not playing at the end of last season was frustrating, especially because I’d managed to stay fully fit all season up to that point.”