With Zat Knight injured, the former Middlesbrough player looks set to face Stoke in the FA Cup semi-final.
Yet Wheater was on the fringes of being Cup-tied, only for Tony Mowbray to suddenly withdraw him from the team to face Burton.
Wheater told the Bolton News: "I came in with my tracksuit on the Friday ready to play before the manager told me that the deal had been done so I wasn't travelling to Burton.
"He told me to take the weekend off. But on Monday I was back at Boro because nothing had been finalised."
Source: PA
Source: PA