A possible reunuion with former Crazy Gang colleague Dean Holdsworth will be the last thing on Neal Ardley's mind tomorrow.
Holdsworth, a former team-mate of Ardley at the original Wimbledon FC, led the consortium which took over AFC Wimbledon's opponents at Kingsmeadow, Bolton Wanderers, back in March.
He immediately appointed himself chief executive before moving over to director of football in June, but stepped down last month, and his current role with the Trotters is unclear.
Ardley said: “He's probably suit and tie, and I'm not sure he will want to hang around with the likes of us managers now. I don't know whether I will see him, I've not spoke to him for a while, but obviously he's got a big job on his hands.”
The size of the task Holdsworth, who scored 61 goals in just under 200 games for Wimbledon, faces is turning around a Bolton side caught in a downward spiral for a few years now.
Playing a side who were strutting their stuff in both the Premier League and UEFA Cup not so long ago is clearly massive for the Dons, but Ardley sees it as just another tough game among many.
He said: “It's an amazing fixture because of the size of the club and where they have come from, but there's no easy fixture in this league.
“Scunthorpe (who AFC play three days after) have been on a run at the end of last season and the start of this season, and have a big budget and good players, so they don't get any easier.”
Ardley is hoping to have Chris Whelpdale, who went off injured after scoring against former club Peterborough on Tuesday night, back and fit to face Bolton.
He added: “Chris scores goals and has got a lot of good qualities. I thought he got down the right well during the first half, but he felt his groin tighten.
“I thought long and hard about starting him and decided he'd be better getting fit through playing games. He was a little bit tired as he felt the tightness in his groin, but hopefully we will get that right for Saturday.”
