Hunt blow as Bolton through

Oldham 0 Bolton 1

Croft’s horror tackle overshadowed a thrilling cup tie, with Oldham matching their Premiership opponents for long periods.

The game was settled, however, by Ricardo Vaz Te’s ninth-minute header which Les Pogliacomi could only parry into his own goal.

“Unfortunately Nicky’s going for the ball and the player has gone over the top,” Allardyce said.

“I’m not sure if the lad meant it, he’s not that kind of lad. But he went over the top and caught Nicky above the ankle.

It was feared that Hunt had broken his leg but X-rays showed that he sustained severe bruising of the ankle and shin bone.

It is not known how long Hunt faces on the sidelines, and manager Sam Allardyce has already planned to bolster his defence by swooping for Roma’s Vincent Candela.

Allardyce said: “I hope he’ll make a reasonably quick recovery; even without the break, the ligaments and the leg bending would mean major damage.”

Allardyce was pleased with his side’s resilience, “We’ve come out of it with the right result, it was hard work at times because of Oldham’s effort and good play. But our stubbornness defensively and our early goal got us through.”

Oldham boss Brian Talbot will report to the police an incident on the way to the ground when his car was vandalised on the A62.

He refused to talk about the incident but admitted he was pleased with his side’s performance.

“I’m more disappointed we lost the game,” Talbot said. “The lads gave everything they had, the commitment was there, the effort was first class.

“I’m biased, but our second-half performance merited something from the game. We had chances in the second half and enough of the ball around their box to score.”

OLDHAM: Pogliacomi, Griffin, Haining (Lomax 56), Bruce, Daniel Hall, Croft, Eyre (Cooper 72), Betsy, Hughes, Kilkenny, Eyres.

BOLTON: Jaaskelainen, Hunt (Barness 56), N’Gotty, Ben Haim, Gardner, Hierro, Vaz Te (Campo 81), Nolan, Fadiga (Diouf 89), Pedersen, Davies.

Referee: M Messias (S Yorkshire).