Megson: Buy players or we may go down

The Bolton squad is one of the smallest in the top flight and Megson knows he needs to change that during the transfer window if Bolton are to avoid a repeat of last season's relegation battle.

"At the beginning of the season we lost three really important players at the same time, which is something we can't afford to do," said Megson. "It's been a worry. We're getting close towards the window now and it's something we've got to try and rectify.

"The numbers in the squad have got to come up, but at the same time it's got to be quality as well. I don't want to bring in players for the sake of it. But we won't get through the second half of the season with the squad we have and the size it is at the moment.

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"We know names of players we would like to bring in, but it's not always that simple. It's harder to bring in players in January than it is in July; all the teams are halfway through [the season] and you haven't got a long time, if you do lose one player, to try and sort it out."

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Gary Parkinson is a freelance writer, editor, trainer, muso, singer, actor and coach. He spent 14 years at FourFourTwo as the Global Digital Editor and continues to regularly contribute to the magazine and website, including major features on Euro 96, Subbuteo, Robert Maxwell and the inside story of Liverpool's 1990 title win. He is also a Bolton Wanderers fan.