Saturday's game against Salford City has been pinpointed as where Declan John could be handed his first start for Bolton Wanderers.
The 25-year-old has joined the Trotters on loan until the end of the season from Championship Swansea City.
He made his debut over the weekend in the win over Leyton Orient, coming off the bench towards the closing stages to replace Ben Jackson.
Despite joining relatively early in the January transfer window, John had to wait to make his Bolton bow after picking up a hamstring injury in training.
John is poised to get more minutes in the tank this evening against Mansfield Town from the bench once more as Ian Evatt slowly builds up the full-back's return to action from injury.
And Evatt has pencilled in this weekend's trip to Salford City as the match where John could be handed his first start in a Wanderers start.
Evatt said: “He needs more time off the bench purely for our and his own protection. If you asked Declan is he ready to play, he’ll say yes, but he’s not, especially in those full-back areas because as you saw from Harry Brockbank and Jacko at times on Saturday, it’s really physically demanding.
"We ask them to get in the back post, we ask them to be back defending, it’s that constant running power and lung capacity that you need and it’s when Declan, being a speed player that when he fatigues it’s likely for him to get injuries in his hamstring, so we have to build him up slowly.
"He’ll get minutes again tomorrow night, no doubt and then hopefully he might be able to start against Salford on Saturday, that’s the game we’ve earmarked for him, but obviously that will depend on results and how he feels.”
