Bolton Wanderers will be without the services of midfielder Kyle Dempsey for around four weeks due to an ankle ligament tear but the Whites are hopeful he could be back in action sooner rather than later.
The former Gillingham midfielder came off after 20 minutes of last week's 3-2 win over Barrow in the Papa Johns Trophy. He will now spend the next month on the sidelines and may have played his final game of 2022.
Next up for Wanderers is Friday's night's League One clash against Bristol Rovers under the lights at the University of Bolton Stadium. Ian Evatt confirmed Dempsey's injury ahead of the game at his pre-match press conference, while also giving an update on defender Will Aimson and winger Lloyd Isgrove's fitness, with the former now back in training and the latter not far behind in their recovery from hamstring injuries.
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Evatt said: “He’s (Dempsey) got a grade tear of an ankle ligament which is moderate and basically means about four weeks out, so that’s what we’re looking at.
“Obviously he’s a bit down in the dumps and mentally, this can be really challenging because he knows he has a lot to give. I was really pleased with the performance at Cambridge and then what happened after that, we don’t need to speak about again.
“Football always asks questions and throws challenges at you and it’s about how you respond that will really define you as a footballer, character and person and I have no doubt Kyle’s response will be fantastic. But for now his head is down and he’s focusing on getting himself fit.
“I think the ankle already is making significant progress so it may not be as long as the four weeks, but we’ll keep monitoring that as we go and hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later.
“The illness seems to have disappeared and vanished now so the players are fit healthy and ready to go. It’s just Lloyd Isgrove who is the only one unavailable. Will Aimson was back in full training today so he’s back in contention, but probably not ready to be involved on Saturday.
“He needs more training time but he’s back amongst the group.
“He’s (Isgrove) really close, maybe another week behind Will, so not too far.”
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