Bolton Wanderers v Peterborough United: Fan pundit reveals "growing concern" ahead of kick-off | OneFootball

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After agonisingly missing out on a potential return to the Championship at the end of the previous campaign, Bolton Wanderers have begun the current one as many would expect.

Though they are currently situated seventh in the league table, only three points separates them from present league-leaders Portsmouth in what looks set to be a tight, hotly-contested promotion battleground once again.

While they do head in to today's clash with Peterborough United - who are only behind them on goal difference - with stripped confidence after losing 2-1 at Reading last weekend, they've sent out a statement of intent on more than one occasion by beating Derby County, and scoring nine goals in their first three matches.

Make no mistake about it, they appear a team firmly on the up and stand a good chance of finally clawing back to the second tier of English football.

But that all hinges upon Dion Charles.

The forward is currently nursing a shoulder injury and remains very much touch-and-go heading into this afternoon's meeting, meaning that supporters are wondering what life - even temporarily - looks like without Charles.

What are Bolton Wanderers supporters saying about Dion Charles' injury?

FLW fan pundit Oliver Jaques is particularly worried about how his side will fare if they are unable to summon Charles' services and cited a believed lack of depth as a cause for critical concern.

He explained: "I think we’ll really struggle without Charles if I’m honest. There’s no striker like him, certainly not at our club and perhaps the league.

"I’m all for giving chances but the other options - (Victor) Adeboyejo, (Dan) N'lundulu, (Cameron) Jerome - have all had their chances and all seem to seriously lack any kind of consistency.

"However, I’m a fan of (Jon Dadi) Bodvarsson whose been very unlucky with injury. Hopefully, he is fit to start at last. Ideally, we’d be able to pair him with Carlos Mendes Gomes in Charles’ absence, but unfortunately, he’s joined a growing injury list.

"Unless there’s a drastic formation change it will have to be N’lundulu.

"There’s a palpable growing concern across social media amongst Wanderers fans that we don’t have enough strength in depth, and with this weekend's fixture being our Community Day (cheaper tickets welcoming 20k+), we need to give the fans something to cheer about!

Can Bolton Wanderers really cope without Dion Charles?

Bolton's true credentials as a club capable of contesting for promotion will be put right to the test in the absence of Charles.

To date, they've not scored a single League One goal when he hasn't been on the pitch and it's not all that surprising that he's their top scorer with five strikes from six games.

As rightly alluded to also, strength in depth is a crucial facet across the long, unforgiving marathon of a 46-game league campaign, and Bolton need to be prepared for the inevitability of injuries and both general physical and mental fatigue.

That's not just for Charles either, but in other areas of the pitch too - where it's only natural that they'll encounter the same trials and tribulations as the season drags on.

In fairness, they are unfortunate that the aforementioned Mendes Gomes is sidelined as he'd have been remarkable cover for Charles, but with more unprolific forwards now to be called upon in the form of Jerome, Bodvarsson and N'lundulu, it's hard to see Bolton not struggling for as long as their star talisman is out.