AFTER looking seriously short of left-back cover, Keith Hill could shortly find himself spoilt for choice.

New loan signing Brandon Fleming has hit the ground running, making an encouraging debut against Portsmouth, while Joe Bunney played his first minutes in a Bolton shirt this week with more than an hour for the development squad.

Fans had been concerned when Wanderers found themselves without a senior left-back following the release of Adam Chicksen and the end of Josh Earl’s loan from Preston North End.

Fleming’s display against Pompey cheered Hill, who feels the Hull defender could make progress during his time with the club.

The Bolton boss said: “He’s tenacious, he’s going to be a good player. And our duty of care while we have got him on loan is to help him learn about the game and the mistakes he’ll make. He had an excellent debut but they will come.

“Hull City have played him in their first team and they feel as though he’s one of their players for the future. But at this moment in time Hull are on a different page than us and have allowed us to have him, so that if he does make mistakes he’ll learn from them while playing for Bolton.

“That’s the approach teams have when they send out their players on loan.”

Meanwhile, both Jack Hobbs and Ali Crawford were pictured training in the gym by the club on Wednesday, hinting that they could be on the road to recovery.

Hobbs has not played since October 7 because of a persistent back problem and Crawford was put out of action a few weeks later with a knee injury.