Bolton Wanderers loanee Luke Mbete is likely to miss the remainder of the season after manager Ian Evatt confirmed the severity of his knee injury suffered on Easter Monday.
The 19-year-old joined the Trotters on deadline day during the January transfer window, after his loan at Championship side Huddersfield was cut short.
Mbete featured nine times for Wanderers in his three months spell with the club, however, after suffering a knee injury in a 1-1 draw with Cambridge on Easter Monday, he may have played his last game for the club.
The Manchester City defender was enjoying a positive run of games with Bolton, keeping five clean sheets and even finding the back of the net once.
With the centre-back now set to miss four to six weeks of action, returning for the White’s last game of the season against Bristol Rovers on 7 May will be highly unlikely.
Bolton still has everything to play for currently, as they sit in amidst a promotion fight. Sat 5th place in League One, the ex-Premier League team has a safety gap of two points outside the playoff places, while also having a game in hand on their competitors.
Enjoying a run of five games unbeaten, promotion back to the Championship would be the cherry on top, after winning silverware at Wembley in a 4-0 victory against Plymouth in the EFL Trophy.
Speaking to the Bolton News after their 1-0 win against Oxford this weekend, Evatt said: “Luke’s knee got injured in the tackle at the end which led to the free kick, and Manchester City tell us that will be four to six weeks, so that means he goes behind Jack Iredale, Ricardo Santos and Eoin Toal.
“We are doing our best to get Rico and Eoin recovered but right now it isn’t looking great. It’s possible if we make it (to the playoffs) but right now these boys are what we have got and they are doing absolutely everything to get us over the line.”
Writer’s View
This isn’t the first defensive injury Bolton has recently suffered, as the fact Jack Iredale, Ricardo Santos and Eoin Toal are also sidelined, makes this loss even more impactful.
With Wanderers looking to extend their season by making the playoffs, there will be hope these players could potentially return, however, it would be shocking if they were in full match sharpness in time.
For the time being Bolton is in a good run of form and if they can keep that up over the next month, players returning from injury may be able to give a little boost in time for the playoffs.
