Bolton Wanderers' hopes of climbing up the League One table have been hit with yet another blow, after manager Keith Hill revealed that midfielder Ali Crawford has suffered a 'potentially serious' knee injury in their EFL Trophy win over Manchester City 's Under-21s on Tuesday night.

Two goals from Chris O'Grady had helped Wanderers to a 3-1 win, but an injury to Crawford - who had opened the scoring for Bolton - dampened the mood somewhat, after the midfielder was stretchered off the pitch in second-half stoppage time.

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Crawford is now the latest name on a long injury list for Bolton, and speaking about the midfielder's setback after the game, manager Keith Hill was far from optimistic about the situation, as he told The Bolton News: “We’ve been struck by another lightning bolt.

“And I am getting fed up of the footballing gods. Unfortunately again it looks like we have picked up a serious injury."

Discussing the decision to play Crawford in the match, Hill continued: "It’s not a question of whether he should have played the game tonight, it’s just very bad luck. It was innocuous.

"I think he twisted his knee and potentially it could be such a serious injury.” 

Crawford has been a key player for Bolton since joining from Doncaster Rovers on the final day of the summer transfer window, starting every game Wanderers have played since that time.

Elsewhere, it has been confirmed that Preston loanee Josh Earl picked up another injury during Wanderers' win at Bristol Rovers last week, in what had been his first game back since limping out of Bolton's first game of the season back in August.

Bolton are next in action on Saturday afternoon, when they turn their focus back to League One matters, as they host play-off chasing Fleetwood Town at the University of Bolton Stadium.

The Verdict

It seems as though Bolton just have no luck at the minute.

Having seemingly made a big breakthrough with that momentum and confidence-building win at Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night, things are once again going against them to break that back down.

Crawford has been a key player for Bolton since his arrival at the club, with his creativity and control of the game from midfield a huge asset that will now be missed, while Earl's absence will not help what is an already injury-hit defence - with the left-back forced to play in the centre of the backline at Bristol Rovers.

Even so, I don't blame Hill for playing Crawford in an EFL Trophy game, since it should have been an opportunity to maintain match sharpness following the postponement of their trip to Lincoln on Saturday, not to mention the fact that the club do not exactly have a squad big enough to rotate for these sorts of games right now.