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As Bolton Wanderers' injury problems continue to multiply, Neil Lennon has made the interesting decision to bring in yet another midfield loanee by signing Giles Coke until the end of the season.
The addition of Coke from fellow Championship side Sheffield Wednesday takes Wanderers' current loan count to eight players, with another two expected to be completed shortly - despite only being allowed to use five in any match day squad.
More baffling, four of those loanees are central midfielders with Coke joining Barry Bannan, Rochinha and Simeon Slavchev in signing temporary deals at the club. Of those four, Rochinha has yet to even make an appearance for the club while Slavchev has made just one substitute appearance. So the addition of Coke seems, at best, a little bit pointless.
Coke, 28, has struggled to break into Wednesday's first team this season and hasn't played since their clash with Rotherham back in early November. So he's hardly match fit and raring to go. Wednesday fans' reaction to Coke joining Wanderers also gives an inkling that this move is not going to set the world on fire, with most surprised that he managed to seal a move to another Championship club.
Since signing for Wednesday in 2010, Coke has made just 84 league appearances, scoring six goals, and has been farmed out on loan to Bury and Swindon Town. Coke's career began in the lower leagues with Mansfield Town and Northampton Town before a move north of the border to Motherwell.
But worryingly, it does appear that he has a problem with injuries having suffered setbacks including... ahem wait for it... a dead leg, back spasms, a knee injury, a groin injury, a serious calf injury, a serious cartilage injury, and niggling hamstring injuries. So he should fit right in with the rest of the lads in the treatment room at Bolton.
Better news for Wanderers fans is that Coke self-proclaims that his playing style is similar to that of Claude Makelele and Steven Gerrard. I think we'll be the judge of that, Giles. Whether Coke will get a game at Wanderers remains to be seen, but the number of players we have on loan seems very odd despite our terrible injury problems.