Bolton Wanderers still have recruitment work to do to make the squad strong enough to compete in the Championship, according to boss Steven Schumacher.
Bolton are preparing for a first second-tier campaign in seven years after winning the League One play-off final against Stockport in May with Schumacher hoping his own experiences of managing at that level will help them adjust.
“Having the experience helps because it was a bit of a surprise when I first went up with Plymouth Argyle and how physical, how quick, how competitive every game is,” he told Radio Manchester.
“We’ve set our sights on trying to make us a team who are dynamic and can go and compete at this level so we’ve got a bit of work to do from a recruitment point of view, but we also feel the lads in the squad from last year, a lot of them are capable of making the step up.”
Bolton are intensifying their preparations this week with a pre-season training trip to Slovakia which will culminate with a game against local side DAC 1904 on Friday.
“I liked the venue we used in Marbella last year but it wasn’t available for the date we wanted to go on,” added Schumacher.
“Around February or March, this opportunity came about in Slovakia. Portsmouth went there last year and I asked their manager John Mousinho about it and he gave me the lowdown – it ticks the boxes with good facilities and will hopefully be a bit cooler than the south of Spain will be.”
Bolton start the new Championship season at home to Preston North End on Saturday 15 August (12:30 BST).
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