Sam To Wait Until The Eleventh Hour

By Mark Heys
January 26 2006

Sam Allardyce is bracing himself for some late transfer activity as Bolton Wanderers look to add bodies to their depleted squad...

Four players are currently away on African Nations Cup duty and Gary Speed and Henrik Pedersen are both on the long term injury list so Allardyce has no option but to bring in some loan signings.

In 2003 French pair Florent Laville and Pierre Yves Andre were signed just minutes before the window closed and a year later young full back Jon Otsemobor was brought in on loan from Liverpool.

Last January saw only one new recruit added to the team as French World Cup winner Vincent Candela arrived from Italian giants Roma until the end of the season and the Bolton manager is hopeful of finding a similar player this time around.

"I'm trying to find a player but it's looking more and more like I'm going to have to wait until just before the deadline," he told the Bolton Evening News.

"All our top targets have either gone to other clubs or we haven't been able to secure them because of our financial situation.

"I'm not so sure if there is a Vincent Candela out there for us. I didn't want to be in this position again but that's the way it is."

Meanwhile the Wanderers have competition if they are to secure the services of Deportivo La Coruna star Martin Cesar as Birmingham City have entered the running to sign the soon to be out of contract defender.