Injuries took shine off victory: Sam

BOLTON manager Sam Allardyce is fearful of an injury crisis wrecking the impact his side are making.

Kevin Nolan’s overhead kick in the 25th minute was enough to hand Bolton a 1-0 win over Portsmouth and lift the Trotters up to third but Allardyce’s delight was tempered by back and ankle injuries to Gary Speed and Nicky Hunt respectively.

Ivan Campo, Radhi Jaidi, Abdoulaye Faye, Fabrice Fernandes and Ricardo Vaz Te were all missing at the Reebok Stadium through injury and Allardyce said: “We’re being taken to the wire because injuries have hit us earlier than expected, with those to Gary and Nicky taking the edge off the victory.”

Allardyce, whose side face Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, added: “I’m worrying about Plovdiv and Wigan coming up. I’ve not too many selection problems, with the team virtually picking itself for Bulgaria.”