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Wanderers could face the League One promotion run-in without more than half their first team strike force.
Victor Adeboyejo became the latest striker to be struck down by injury after limping out of Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Exeter City.
Ian Evatt confirmed that the 26-year-old had damaged his hamstring but will not know how serious the injury is until later today (Monday) when it is assessed by medics and scanned.
Furthermore, the Bolton boss revealed that top scorer Dion Charles had experienced a setback in his recovery from a knee injury which has now rendered his comeback date uncertain.
Having already seen Dan Nlundulu and Carlos Mendes shelved by long-term injuries, Wanderers are now down to just three front men – Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, Aaron Collins and Cameron Jerome – who share between them just three league goals for the Whites this season.
Evatt has been encouraged by the recent performances of veteran Jerome, who has come off the bench to good effect against Barnsley and Exeter.
January signing Collins has also been finding his feet, recently scoring his first goal for the club against Cambridge United.
Fans’ favourite Bodvarsson has eight goals in all competitions this term but has started just six times in League One and could now find himself pushed to the front of the queue.
“We are down to probably three fit strikers, having had so many in the squad,” Evatt told The Bolton News after the final whistle on Saturday. “We have been pulverised with injuries all season, really, and especially since Christmas.
“I think the last couple of games Cameron has been excellent, he has really changed the course of the game and shown what he can do. He is a huge impact player for us. I have been delighted for him.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, this has always been a collective effort. It has always been down to me, the staff, the fans, everyone to stick together and keep trying to drive forwards.
“There will be difficult moments. Second half at times was difficult. But the players found a way to pick themselves up to get a result.
“We know now that it puts extra pressure on the rest of the week, but we have to go and embrace that.”
Evatt refused to be too downbeat after a weekend in which his side slipped into third, a point behind Derby County, who they face on Saturday.
“It is tight, and it will be tight all the way,” the manager said. “Every game you will see swings and we have to make sure we come out on the right side of it. We need to do better.
“This was the other way around from Barnsley. Second half there we were excellent, first half here we were excellent. It comes down to whether you get the reward for that dominance.
“They were two really poor goals to concede, which gave ourselves a real mountain to climb. It all came about because we just didn’t reset after the first one.
“We are where we are. We have got what we have got. We need to move on to the next challenge and know that there will be twists and turns. There is a lot of football still to be played.
“All you can do is learn, and we have to learn from what happened there.”
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