Don't read in to Eagles' absence, says Dougie

We have often talked about how Chris Eagles has simply needed a rest. The winger, who started the season like a whole apartment complex on fire, had played a part in every single match until recently. If he wasn't in the starting lineup, he was on the bench and would make an appearance late on. That was until Tuesday's Peterborough match where Chris Eagles was left out of the team altogether.

The fans speculated and there were rumors (from one tabloid or another, we weren't really bothered to go look) that arguably one of Bolton's best players had handed in a transfer request. That's a whole other thing though as a transfer request at this juncture simply wouldn't make sense. Eagles still leads the Championship in assists despite not registering one since mid-December and, on his day, is one of the division's best players.

Dougie Freedman has come out to put a stop to the rumors and tell everyone's imaginations to settle down, citing illness for Eagles' exclusion from the recent match. Speaking in the Bolton News, he said:

"Chris is not well, plain and simple. In fact, he gave my ear a rest for the last two days by not being in.

"He comes in every day bouncing about the place. He really does.

"I don't know what the comments were but he is really happy here, I think."

"He is training well, he is playing okay right now, he could play better.

"He is not well but don't read too much into it. He will be back Thursday."