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Will Buckley stands to be out of action for six months with a fractured leg – and will continue to count on Wanderers’ embargo quota.
The unfortunate midfielder was hurt by a challenge from Bristol Rovers defender Abu Agogo just four minutes after coming on as a substitute, having signed a short-term contract with the club.
Bolton are restricted to 23 professional players by the terms of their transfer embargo from the EFL and Hill doubts there is any wiggle room to sign a replacement.
Wanderers were controversially given room to do so during their last stint in League One – memorably bringing Jem Karacan in for the promotion run-in under the tenure of previous owner Ken Anderson.
“I don’t think there’s any manipulation now,” Hill told The Bolton News. “We can’t do it like the club did back in the day.
“There are rules and regulations and we can try and stretch them as much as we can but I believe he’s counted in the 23, injured or not injured, he’s registered as a player.
“We and every other football club up and down the country have to deal with injured players. The consequences to us are more damaging from the EFL point of view but I don’t think we can stretch or manipulate the rules as was once done.
“But it doesn’t discourage me from putting a team out – or supporting this great football club. I will always stand at the side of that pitch supporting that group of players trying to win a football match.
Hill sympathy lay entirely with Buckley, however, who had proved he had recovered completely from a fractured kneecap to earn a new deal with the Whites.
“I just think it’s devastating for Will Buckley and again I look back at the challenge,” he said. “It’s a genuine attempt for the ball but there’s certainly follow-through, there is a lack of control, it’s a dangerous-type challenge.
“I am not too concerned about ‘we’ – Will has got a fracture that will keep him out for at least six months. So it’s tragic, really, from a player recruitment perspective and from a player perspective, he’s a friend of mine. He’s a friend of BWFC and whether you rate him as a player or not it’s a devastating blow to a young man’s career.”
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The unfortunate midfielder was hurt by a challenge from Bristol Rovers defender Abu Agogo just four minutes after coming on as a substitute, having signed a short-term contract with the club.
Bolton are restricted to 23 professional players by the terms of their transfer embargo from the EFL and Hill doubts there is any wiggle room to sign a replacement.
Wanderers were controversially given room to do so during their last stint in League One – memorably bringing Jem Karacan in for the promotion run-in under the tenure of previous owner Ken Anderson.
“I don’t think there’s any manipulation now,” Hill told The Bolton News. “We can’t do it like the club did back in the day.
“There are rules and regulations and we can try and stretch them as much as we can but I believe he’s counted in the 23, injured or not injured, he’s registered as a player.
“We and every other football club up and down the country have to deal with injured players. The consequences to us are more damaging from the EFL point of view but I don’t think we can stretch or manipulate the rules as was once done.
“But it doesn’t discourage me from putting a team out – or supporting this great football club. I will always stand at the side of that pitch supporting that group of players trying to win a football match.
Hill sympathy lay entirely with Buckley, however, who had proved he had recovered completely from a fractured kneecap to earn a new deal with the Whites.
“I just think it’s devastating for Will Buckley and again I look back at the challenge,” he said. “It’s a genuine attempt for the ball but there’s certainly follow-through, there is a lack of control, it’s a dangerous-type challenge.
“I am not too concerned about ‘we’ – Will has got a fracture that will keep him out for at least six months. So it’s tragic, really, from a player recruitment perspective and from a player perspective, he’s a friend of mine. He’s a friend of BWFC and whether you rate him as a player or not it’s a devastating blow to a young man’s career.”
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