Joe Riley set to go on loan to Swindon Town?

In his young Bolton Wanderers career, Joe Riley has made six appearances for the whites across the FA Cup, League Cup, and Premier League. In those short stints, he has shown a lot of promise for Bolton but has not had much of a chance at all this season, having been behind the more experienced Sam Ricketts and Tyrone Mears.

Dougie Freedman has said in the past that Bolton's squad is too big at the moment and he thinks (rightfully so, I might add) that it simply is not healthy for players to not get actual game time. As a result, it seems that Dougie is ready to send Joe Riley on loan. According to Alan Nixon on Twitter, the destination is Paolo Di Canio's Swindon Town.

The Robins were promoted to League One at the end of last season and are doing quite well for themselves already. After 16 games, they have 26 points and sit in seventh place. If Di Canio sticks out his tongue, he can just about touch the promotion places as his side are just one point out.

Swindon already have a good defensive record on the year with a goal differential of +9 and allowing less than one goal per game. They will look to Riley to bolster the defense even more.

Riley has featured in Bolton's reserve side consistently this year but, as their league standing suggests, they are doing terribly. They are currently bottom of their Barclays U21 Premier League group with just one win from 10 games. It seems better for Riley to get experience in a lower tier of English football than to ply his trade with the development squad.

If/when as the move becomes official, we'll be sure to bring you the specifics.