Bolton Wanderers will be without midfielder Kieran Lee for the trip to Tranmere Rovers this weekend due to a muscle fascia tissue injury but could return to action next week along with Declan John.
Former Sheffield Wednesday man Lee was taken off at half-time of last weekend's 1-1 draw at home to Cheltenham Town with a tight groin.
Bolton manager Ian Evatt has confirmed Lee will miss this weekend's trip to Prenton Park but will return next week.
Swansea City loanee John is yet to make his Trotters debut after arriving on at the University of Bolton Stadium earlier this month.
He suffered a hamstring injury in training which has kept him out of action, but is back running and is poised to return next week as well.
And Evatt has given more positive news on the injury front on striker Shaun Miller, who is ahead of schedule with his recovery from a thigh injury.
The former Crewe Alexandra man is due to return to training with the rest of the squad next week, though his fitness will be closely monitored.
Evatt said: “Kieran will add a lot of quality to us. Unfortunately he’s got just a bit of damage to his muscle fascia tissue, not the muscle itself, which will probably keep him out of Saturday but not keep him out for much longer than that. Declan John is back running so he’s going to add lots of quality to us. He’ll be back at some point next week.
“Shaun Miller’s doing really well. He’s doing fantastic work. His fitness is coming on leaps and bounds. He’s ahead of schedule. He will join back in with the group at some point next week.
"Obviously we’ve got to make sure that we get him to a certain level before we start putting him back into the team again, but I’m really pleased with him.
"In terms of Declan, he’s running with no pain and no issues so he’ll be back with us next week and Kieran Lee will miss Saturday but also will be back at some point next week, so no major injuries really and they’re all recovering well from small issues, so hopefully we can keep them in one piece and then have a fully fit squad moving into the second half of the season."
