Parkinson warns Wanderers against complacency ahead of Proact visit

The third-placed Wanderers arrive in Chesterfield on the back of five straight wins, while Town have shipped five goals in each of their last two Saturday fixtures.

Parkinson wants to see his side perform even better than they did in the 4-0 thrashing of Gillingham on Monday.

““We cannot take them lightly. After such a good performance, like the one against Gillingham, good teams step up another level and go again,” he said.

“We have to make sure we don’t go there thinking it will fall for us. We have to make it happen. Whatever it takes to win that game of football we must be prepared to do it.

“The supporters have to come with the same mind-set. We had a great win on Monday but can they really pump us up from behind the goal, because we know they will come in big numbers.

“We need to get into the Christmas period in a really strong position.”

Parkinson has done his homework on Chesterfield, perhaps showing that he is indeed taking them seriously.

And he agreed with Danny Wilson’s feelings about the 5-2 defeat at Peterborough – with the scoreline flattering the hosts who were aided by some wonderful strikes from distance.

If Bolton are to rout Chesterfield and add to their League One misery, the former Bradford boss believes they’ll have to work hard to earn it.

“I saw them against Rochdale, which was a poor performance, after two good ones against MK Dons and Bristol Rovers,” he said.

“Against Peterborough they were totally in control of the first half but got done by virtually the first and last kick. Peterborough then scored some spectacular goals – but it didn’t really tell the true picture.

“Confidence comes into it, and of course when you’re down there it can be a bit brittle. But over-confidence can come into play too and that is what I have to guard against.

“We need to be balanced. We’ve earned a right to score goals against Gillingham and we’ve earned a right to win quite a few games on the road this season – it can’t be any different against Chesterfield regardless of where they are in the league right now.