Bolton Wanderers manager Phil Parkinson has opened up about the difficulties he has faced trying to sign players, as the club's off-field problems continue.

There are less than two weeks to go until the end of the transfer window, but Bolton's chances of signing any new players while the club are still in administration look increasingly slim.

Parkinson had hoped to bring in several new players this summer, after some of his key players decided to leave the club after months of pay problems, but has been unable to strengthen his squad.

Bolton currently have just five players in their squad aged 24 or over - with two of them goalkeepers - and were forced to postpone their game against Doncaster Rovers this week, due to concerns over the welfare of their teenage players.

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Parkinson has opened up about the difficulties he has faced trying to sign players, admitting that he has been offered the chance to sign non-contract players, but has found that potential signings are reluctant to join the club with its future still uncertain.

“The very, very sad part of this is that when we came back in pre-season, and despite all the problems we had faced, the training ground not even being opened and no-one being paid, we had some trialists in, we had players lined-up,” Parkinson told The Bolton News.

“We kept the plates spinning, kept the players training, did our bit on the training ground and I have to say the lads have worked hard despite everything that has been going on.

“We beat Salford, we beat Bradford, we would have got a decent team on the pitch at the start of the season but the constant delays, people moving goalposts, have already hindered that to an extent.

“I have not had any indication that we could sign players from the administrators.

“The league said to me about signing non-contract players but the problem you have with that is if you don’t carry that contract forward the players who have played for you are restricted to play for anyone else as the season progresses.”

The Verdict

It's been a disastrous few months for Bolton, both on and off the field. You get the impression that it's going to be another very difficult season and you can't help but feel for their supporters.

You've got to sympathise with Parkinson too. He's doing everything he can to make the best of a very bad situation, but there's only so much he can do given the circumstances.

You can understand players not wanting to join the club, with its immediate and long-term future still uncertain.

Even though we're only a few games into the new season, it's very difficult to see Bolton avoiding relegation from League One.

As if it wasn't going to be hard enough starting the season with a twelve-point deduction, but they've got hardly any players and League One is an extremely competitive division, where the games come thick and fast.

Hopefully the club can get their takeover finalised as soon as possible and put an end to all this uncertainty, but you can't help but feel that it might already be too late to save them from another terrible season.