10 players set to miss Bolton Wanderers v Stockport County play-off final | OneFootball

The ten players who will be absent for the League One play-off final on Sunday

Stockport County and Bolton Wanderers meet on Sunday at Wembley in the League One play-off final to see who will play Championship football next season.

Both the Hatters and the Trotters had dreams of automatic promotion before the season began, but despite not achieving that, the second tier still beckons by way of the play-offs for one of these sides.

This is Bolton's third League One postseason campaign in the last four years, while Stockport have failed to achieve promotion in either of their last four play-off runs. It's safe to say that neither has had the best of luck at getting promoted this way in recent times.

One side will end their play-off hoodoo at the expense of extending the other's, and ahead of such a massive game, both Dave Challinor and Steven Schumacher will be wanting as many of their top players fit and firing.

Unfortunately, these nine players won't be available to take to the Wembley stage this Sunday.

Brad Hills

Stockport's injury crisis in defence is well-documented, with top-scorer Kyle Wootton having to stand in as a makeshift centre-back for the final six games of the campaign, plus the two semi-final legs against Stevenage.

Arguably, the most damaging injury of all the defensive ones at Edgeley Park is Brad Hills, who arrived back at Stockport in the summer with plenty of fanfare following a successful loan spell there from Norwich City this time last season.

He sustained an ACL injury in their 1-1 draw with Luton Town in March and will miss the rest of this season, plus a good chunk of next term, too.

Joseph Olowu

Indeed, it was the injury to Joseph Olowu in the Vertu Trophy final defeat against Luton last month which forced Wootton to become the new centre-back partner for Ethan Pye.

The former Doncaster Rovers man was immediately seen in a knee brace and on crutches after the game, and while no official update has been given on the severity of his injury, he hasn't been seen since, and will likely miss the play-off final, too.

Callum Connolly

It's been a known fact for County fans that centre-back Callum Connolly won't be seen again this season, after Dave Challinor revealed the news back in late January ahead of the winter transfer deadline.

While the nature of the 28-year-old's injury is unknown, he has been a big miss for Stockport, not only due to the number of defensive injuries they have, but also due to the quality the former Blackpool man possesses.

His last appearance saw him score against Barnsley, and he won the club's Player of the Month award for November.

Arttu Hoskonen

Soccer Football - UEFA Nations League - Group F - Finland v England - Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland - October 13, 2024 Finland's Arttu Hoskonen celebrates scoring their first goal with Leo Walta Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith

And rounding off the centre-back injury issues, summer signing Arttu Hoskonen is yet to feature for Stockport following his move from Polish side Cracovia due to persistent injury issues.

An early groin injury that the 28-year-old has failed to recover from means that it won't be until next season at the earliest before County fans can see the Finnish international in action at Edgeley Park.

Callum Camps

Callum Camps hasn't been seen in a Stockport shirt since November 20, frustratingly, two days after saying in an interview that he hoped to kick on after making his first league start in a couple of months due to injury.

He only made 27 appearances last season, missing the play-off defeat against Leyton Orient due to an ankle injury, and, similar to Connolly, it was announced that he'll be out for the rest of the season back in January.

Tyler Onyango

Everton loanee Tyler Onyango has once again had a hamstring injury curtail his time at Stockport, after an identical injury forced him to head back to his parent club from Edgeley Park in January 2025.

The 23-year-old looked promising on the right side of Dave Challinor's team, but ultimately couldn't get a run of games under his belt without suffering injury setbacks.

He hasn't featured since a loss against Bradford City in mid-February and was ruled out for the rest of the season.

Eoin Toal

The main news coming out of the Bolton camp ahead of the play-off final was that club captain Eoin Toal will be missing after tearing his hamstring in the final moments of the first half in the second leg last Thursday at Bradford.

Toal has been one of the Trotters' more important players, and Bolton had seemingly found a defensive formula with him and Chris Forino in the centre, and centre-back by trade George Johnston playing at left-back. That will have to change on Sunday.

Steven Schumacher stated that the Northern Irishman faces several weeks of rehab to get ready for the start of pre-season, and he'll be hoping it'll be ahead of a Championship campaign.

Johnny Kenny

Moving on, the loss of Johnny Kenny after picking up a knee ligament injury on the final day against Luton was a real gut punch to their play-off credentials.

The Celtic loanee was brilliant in the second half of the season for Steven Schumacher's side, scoring six goals in 14 League One outings, including one in the 2-2 against Stockport at the Toughsheet Stadium on Easter Monday.

He won't require surgery, which is a positive, but he won't be back in time for Sunday's play-off final.

Corey Blackett-Taylor

Derby County loanee Corey Blackett-Taylor had just reasserted himself into the starting lineup at Bolton following the part he played in the miraculous turnaround win against Wycombe Wanderers in March.

Unfortunately, the following game against Rotherham United saw him withdrawn after just 21 minutes with a thigh injury, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Marcus Forss

The final absentee for Steven Schumacher is Marcus Forss, who has been missing since January's defeat at Peterborough United with a hamstring injury.

Initially thought to keep him out for "several weeks," it's been over four months since the Middlesbrough loanee last played for Bolton.

With such a lengthy spell on the sidelines, even if he was back this weekend, there's a high likelihood that the 26-year-old will be left out in favour of someone with a little more match sharpness.