Phil Parkinson has spoken about facing his former club Bolton Wanderers for the first time on Boxing Day, when the Trotters make the trip to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland.

Parkinson left Bolton in August following three years at the club, having won promotion to the Championship in his debut campaign with Wanderers, before seeing them relegated from the second-tier last season amidst a backdrop of financial problems at the club, which saw them start the current campaign with a 12 point deduction.

Bolton remain bottom of the League One table as things stand, but are now on a positive points tally of five under new manager Keith Hill, and giving his assessment of his former club ahead of that Boxing Day encounter, Parkinson told the Sunderland Echo:

“They’ve been able to recruit some decent players and it’s a decent squad, so it’s going to be a competitive game but it’s one I feel that we're ready for, our preparation has gone well and we’re looking forward to a cracking boxing day fixture."

Reflecting on his time at Bolton, Parkinson continued: “I had three years there, winning a fantastic promotion in the first and staying in the Championship in the second.

“The third was obviously tainted as things spiralled out of control at the club."

Discussing the apparent upturn in fortunes Bolton are now enjoying under their new ownership, it seems Parkinson is pleased for his former club, adding: “I’m just very pleased that Sharon Brittan and her consortium showed such resilience to save such a great football club.

"If Sharon hadn’t dug deep and got the deal over the line then we could be talking about another Bury situation.

“Everyone knows that football clubs are at the heart of their community, there are Bury supporters lost on a Saturday afternoon when for years they’ve been watching their football team.

“Bolton is a great club with a great tradition, and it was very very close to not being in existence which would have been such a shame.”

For their part, Sunderland go into the clash with Bolton 13th in League One, having won just two of their 12 games in all competitions since Parkinson's appointment in January.

The Verdict

It looks as though this could be an intriguing encounter on Boxing Day.

With both Sunderland and Bolton struggling recently, both sides may see the other as an opportunity to pick up some all-important points in their battles for the play-offs and survival respectively.

As a result, there will be no room for sentiment for Parkinson in particular against his former club, with his job seemingly already coming under pressure at the Stadium of Light following that disappointing start to his time in charge.