Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce suffered a double injury blow during yesterday's 1-0 win over Newcastle United after both Nicky Hunt and Bruno N'Gotty where withdrawn through injury against the Magpies.
Youngster Hunt will miss the midweek England U21 clash with Sweden after sustaining an injury to his shoulder and Allardyce is waiting anxiously to see whether the full back will be available for the weekend trip to Middlesbrough.
N'Gotty on the other hand will miss the trip to the North East after being in considerable pain following a calf injury and the Bolton boss is still awaiting reports from his medical staff to see how long the experienced Frenchman will be missing for.
Injuries to the pair could mean more games for the likes of Steve Howey, who did a professional job against his former employers after finding himself thrust into the limelight to mark Alan Shearer. Anthony Barness and Jon Otsemobor may also come into contention having been out of the first team picture in recent weeks.
"Nicky seems to have tweaked a ligament in his shoulder but, hopefully, it will not be too severe because we're a little bit light in that department, we don't think Bruno has got any chance with the injury that he's got. We're quite concerned about that, actaully, because he was in a lot of pain in the dressing room at half time, so we think it will be difficult for him to have recovered in six days." Allardyce said
"We don't know exactly what he's done but we think it's to do with the sheath between the bone and the muscle."