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Wanderers have a patch-up job on their hands for their visit to in-form Leyton Orient.
Issues with injury and illness cropped up either side of Tuesday night’s 2-1 FA Cup replay defeat against Luton Town, leaving Ian Evatt in some doubt about the team he will be able to field at Brisbane Road.
Will Forrester was taken off at half time as a precautionary measure after complaining of a back and hamstring issue and Randell Williams was not considered fit enough to be part of the squad, having suffered with a similar issue.
Added to that, a virus has laid low a couple of players, which slims down the options Evatt has for the weekend and the visit of Cheltenham Town a few days later.
Whether that accelerates business in the transfer market remains to be seen. The Bolton boss expects only to make “one or two” signings this month but could not put a timeframe on their arrival when asked at the start of the week.
Pleased with the performance against Premier League Luton, Evatt says his squad may now have to dig deep for a tough away trip.
“There are one or two little bits and niggles flying around at the moment and a little bit of illness in the camp as well,” he said.
“Leyton Orient are flying and full of confidence. Apart from us, who have played fewer games, they have taken the most points since the turn of the year across the division, so we know what we are in for.
“They have just had a great result at Portsmouth and had a free week to prepare, so for us, so it is as tough as it gets. But if we can get to that level I saw out there (against Luton), we are going to be a match for anybody.”
Evatt feels his players can derive some confidence from the way they tested Luton over the two games and take it into their League One promotion fight.
“It is about trying to replicate that performance now as many times as we can between now and the end of the season because if we can, we will achieve our ambitions,” he said.
“It should help the players knowing we can go toe-to-toe with a Premier League team and that is really important because when you see cup upsets it is always the lower league team hanging on for dear life, having a moment or a set play. We went to try and win on merit, and no we didn’t win it but we have earned some new supporters. Luton were very respectful about how we played over the course of the two games and I wish them all the best going forward.”
Gethin Jones will feature in the Australia squad playing their second group game at the Asian Cup today. Syria provide the opposition for Graham Arnold’s side, who won their opening encounter at the weekend against India.
Carlos Mendes Gomes will also be involved for Guinea Bissau as they seek to get their African Cup of Nations campaign back on track against Equatorial Guinea.
Having lost their opening game against Ivory Coast, the Djurtus will most likely need a win to stand any chance of progressing from the group as their final match is against Nigeria.
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