New signings, Jared Borgetti and Hidetoshi Nakata, could be pressed into service ahead of schedule as Sam Allardyce looks to make an early impression on the Premiership.
The Wanderers boss is reluctant to pitch them in too soon, but admits he has scrapped his plan to give the free-scoring Mexican a holiday and reckons the Japanese playmaker's fitness levels are so high that he could be seen in a Bolton shirt "sooner rather than later".
Allardyce said: "A rest we had planned for Jared is out of the question now.
"The need is almost immediate, or it will be shortly. The rest may have to come at a later date."
Nakata trained for the first time with his new team-mates on Thursday and may not have to wait long for his first taste of Premiership action.
"He's done a full pre-season," Allardyce said of the 28-year-old midfielder, who has joined Wanderers on a season-long loan from Fiorentina, "so he should be there or thereabouts.
"Everybody comes in when he is ready and he could be very soon. The fact that we've not got the biggest squad gives opportunities to players here more than at other teams in the Premiership."