Bolton Wanderers' Ronan Darcy poised for return against Wimbledon

The midfielder has finally overcome a foot injury which had ruled him out of the reckoning for the last seven games.

The Bolton boss hopes Darcy can be involved in some capacity at the Cherry Red Records Stadium, where he also faces problems at centre-half with injury worries over Jack Hobbs, Kean Bryan and Yoan Zouma.

“Ronan brings a smile to my face – it’s good to see him back on the training pitch and enjoying himself. He’s a ball of energy,” Hill said.

“We’re pleased he’s back in training with the group of players and hopefully he will be in contention for first team squad in the near future.”

There was little cheer in the manager’s voice when he assessed his central defensive casualties, with only Toto Nsiala likely to be available from last weekend's side.

Liam Edwards was last week ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with a broken kneecap and Hill admitted he was not hopeful on three players who have not been able to train at Lostock this week.

And that could mean a first start for January signing Ryan Delaney, who spent the first half of the season on loan from Rochdale at Wimbledon.

“Jack (Hobbs) has had a scan and we think he will be out for at least 10 days,” he said. “We’re hopeful he will be back for the Peterborough game. You can’t rush those situations.

“Two others from the weekend are potentially Yoan Zouma and Kean Bryan. There’s some fluid on Kean’s knee, which is a concern, so he has gone for an MRI scan so we can get a clearer indication.

“Yoan has had a tight hamstring since the second half against Accrington.”

Hill has confirmed that Anthony Georgiou is now in contention for a place in the squad after starting training for the first time this week following his loan move from Tottenham.

“It’s early days again for Anthony,” he said. “He has been given the green light from Tottenham and we’re thankful with the patience they have shown. But he has come in again and integrated well with the squad.”