Sam Targets Six More

By Mark Heys
August 4 2005

Sam Allardyce hopes to have six more faces to add to his Bolton squad before the transfer window closes in just under four weeks from now.

The Wanderers chief is well aware of the extra demands that will be put on his squad in the season ahead, and has warned of a possible struggle if the club cannot bring in the new faces that they need.

Some of the first team squad will be missing for the African Nations Cup tournament in the spring, and Allardyce wants to ease the burden on those players by bringing in people who can fill the breach.

"If we do OK in the UEFA Cup, we are looking at 50 to 55 games this season, That doesn't include international matches or the African Nations Cup when five of our lads could be away for at least a month.

"At the end of last season, we put forward a number of 24 players as the minimum we needed for the new season. At the moment we have 18 in our first-team squad.

"We've simply got to get to where we need by the time the window closes on August 31 because if we don't do that we could be in serious trouble."