Earlier on in the week Allardyce completed his eight signing of the transfer window with the arrival of Liverpool striker El-Hadji Diouf on loan but the Bolton boss has further targeted a midfielder, a defender and some goalkeeping cover for which he beleives is essential going into next months run of games which will see a number of his players competing in international games.
"The quality of my squad is very good, but the size of it is too small.
"We are hugely tested because it is too small for us, and we have also got players in World Cup qualifiers. Seven or eight are going to play internationals in between Premier League matches for at least five more games after this week."
Big Sam has to work with one of the smallest squads in the top flight with only 20 senior professionals to call upon, other than that he has to call upon the likes of Ricky Shakes, Charlie Comyn-Platt and Jason Talbot all of whom despite their promise are not yet ready for the rigours of the Premiership.