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Wanderers face another difficult call on three key players for Saturday’s home game against Port Vale.
Josh Sheehan, Gethin Jones and Ricardo Santos were all rested on medical advice for the 2-2 draw against Shrewsbury Town.
Ian Evatt admitted his frustration at the timing of the decision, particularly as the result all-but ended chances of automatic promotion this season but said he could not risk losing the players for a longer spell, and potentially the play-offs.
Sheehan was named on the bench but the Bolton boss said his Welsh playmaker had reported an injury before the match and was never likely to feature.
“Against Bristol Rovers he felt his hamstring a little bit, and that was the case before the game as well,” he told The Bolton News. “Josh hasn’t had a break, he was away with Wales and he has played every game. We just felt like we couldn’t risk another one.
“If we keep going to the well, eventually it is going to run dry. We got away with it on Saturday by not making the injury worse but I think the quick turnaround would have been too much, and that is the same for Ricardo Santos and Gethin Jones.
“It is disappointing, they are really important players for us.”
Wanderers were also without captain, Ricardo Santos, who had produced a man-of-the-match performance against Pompey whilst playing with a painkilling injection in his calf, and vice-captain Gethin Jones, who has been unable to train properly because of an injury picked up on international duty.
Evatt explained: “When Geth was away with Australia he had a serious bang on the hip, which limited his training time. He hadn’t been able to train at all until Friday last week but we chucked him in against Portsmouth on Saturday and the result was fatigue, basically, everything in the bottom half is hurting and when you have that physical feeling, an injury is likely again.
“Rico is still feeling that soleus, his calf. We don’t think he made it worse on Saturday but obviously an injection helped him get through it.
“I have to listen to my medical team, they advise me on these things. They are far more qualified than I am.
“Obviously it is frustrating for me as a manager because obviously you want your key players out there at all times but not to the detriment to the bigger picture, and I feel like that would have been the case.”
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