Bolton manager Owen Coyle feels this is the first time all season in which the Trotters have genuine competition for starting spots.

Wanderers have been hit by injuries to several key players this term and found themselves struggling near the bottom of the Premier League.

The casualty list has begun to ease over the last few weeks, though, and Coyle has strengthened his group by bringing in three new signings during the January transfer window.

The team's results have improved, with only one loss being recorded in eight games in all competitions prior to last weekend's 2-0 league defeat at Norwich, and Coyle said: "I think it is the first time that we have had real competition for places.

"We all know the injury list we have had and the quality within that injury list - we had probably five players who would be guaranteed to start in our team missing at the start of the season.

"Bit by bit we are getting one or two back. We still don't have Stuart Holden (knee) or Lee Chung-yong (broken leg), but we are getting one or two back, we have brought in some fresh faces in January - some young, exciting players - and when you add that to the mix, there is real competition for places.

"Now players know they are going to have to be at their very best, because if they are not, and it might only be for one game, then there is room for manoeuvre in terms of making changes."

Coyle's January dealings saw England Under-21 striker Marvin Sordell arrive from Watford, United States centre-back Tim Ream sign from the New York Red Bulls and teenage Japanese midfielder Ryo Miyaichi join on loan from Arsenal for the rest of the campaign.

Sordell made his Bolton debut as a substitute in the Norwich game and Ream and Miyaichi could both feature for the first time on Saturday when 18th-placed Wanderers take on bottom side Wigan in a crunch clash at the Reebok Stadium.

"They will all certainly be in the squad," Coyle said.

"Tim Ream returned (from the US) on Monday with everything sorted with his work permit and passport, and Ryo and Marvin have now had a week training with the lads, which has been great.

"It is not always easy with young players coming in and integrating into a squad, but they have settled down and the lads have really taken to them."

Such are Bolton's numbers at the moment, Coyle is considering letting some more senior squad members - reportedly the likes of Sean Davis, Paul Robinson and Robbie Blake - out on loan.

He said: "Without getting into individual names, I think it is fair to say that there are one or two in the squad that could probably do with some games.

"If I get a call from a Championship manager about one or two, we will have that chat, but there is nothing I can elaborate on just now, because there is no dialogue of that nature which has taken place."

Meanwhile, one Bolton player who remains in the treatment room looks likely to be there for the rest of the season, with long-serving midfielder Ricardo Gardner (knee) having potentially played his last game for the club he has been at since 1998.

Asked if Gardner's campaign was over, Coyle said: "I don't think it is cut and dried, but it is certainly looking as if it will be a long time.

"It is frustrating because he is such a top lad and an outstanding player. He really has been unlucky and hampered by injuries, certainly in my tenure.

"We got him back and he was playing ever so well, and then he got sent off in the game at Swansea (in October). From that, he had taken a knock and it just seemed to snowball from there."

Gardner, who has not been included in Bolton's latest 25-man squad list, is out of contract in the summer and Coyle is putting talk about the 33-year-old Jamaican's future on hold for now.

"Ricardo is one of a number of players who will be out of contract and he comes under the same jurisdiction as anyone else," Coyle said.

"He was out of contract last summer and we gave him the extra year, so it has been frustrating for him. It is something that we will look at towards the end of the season."