No guarantees for Jaaskelainen

The Finn, who has played more than 500 games in 14 years with the Trotters, was surprisingly rested for last weekend's 1-0 defeat by Blackburn. Hungarian youngster Adam Bogdan was given the nod at Ewood Park but the greater threat to 36-year-old Jaaskelainen's place in the medium term would appear to come from Ali Al Habsi. The Oman international is coming to the end of a season on loan with Wigan in which he has greatly enhanced his reputation after four years as Jaaskelainen's understudy. Coyle insists the situation does not present him with a problem and vowed it would be a "fair fight" between the trio. The Scot said: "Ali was allowed to go on loan to Wigan because I felt he'd been understudy for too long and he had to play. "I knew the qualities he has as a goalkeeper, I also knew young Adam Bogdan is an outstanding keeper who's getting better. So for us it was always a win, win, win situation. "When the season finishes at Wigan, and Al Habsi's been one of their best players this year, he'll return to Bolton Wanderers, and that's very clear. "There's no problem regarding all the positions in our team. It's a fair fight. As a manager, I think the best one will play in that position." Coyle, meanwhile, insisted last week's decision was taken purely to give Jaaskelainen a rest and Bogdan a rare chance to play in the Barclays Premier League. "Jussi was great," the Trotters boss said of his keeper's reaction. "Jussi's been outstanding all season, as he has from day one at the football club. "I spoke to him and I said, given the amount of games we've had in a short period of time, that we were going to give young Adam a game at Blackburn, and he was comfortable with it. "He'll play in goal against Sunderland on Saturday. As a manager, that's the decision you make. It was made for the right reasons." Tomorrow's match will be between two mid-table sides struggling to overcome injuries and looking for a positive end to the season. For Bolton, Daniel Sturridge (ankle), Gretar Steinsson (knee), and Ricardo Gardner (hamstring) could be fit but Mark Davies (ankle) is likely to miss out while Marcos Alonso is expected to be unavailable following his involvement in a car accident in Madrid in which a female passenger died. Coyle's problems are relatively minor, though, compared to opposite number Steve Bruce, who is again likely to be without all of his strikers. The Black Cats should be safe thanks to their victory over Wigan two weeks ago but a run of eight defeats from 10 games has provoked much soul-searching at the Stadium of Light. Coyle said: "What we do know is Sunderland have a very good manager, they're an outstanding football club and the people up there have seen the big picture. "We all know you can lose games in this league very easily. It's important when that happens you have to try to deal with it as quickly as you can and try to get that elusive win that gets you out of it. "Sunderland did that with a huge win and all credit to them because they went a goal down in that game. To show that belief and that character, I think they've got to be applauded for that." Bolton have enjoyed their best season for a long time but it is in danger of fizzling out and Coyle is keen to avoid a third successive league defeat. He added: "We've obviously been dealt harsh blows with horrendous injuries but the players have got on with it, they've done it with a smile on their face, and what we want to do is finish as strongly as we can."