Much-travelled goalkeeper, well into the veteran stage, lurks in the shadows perfectly capable of stepping in at any time
Bolton-born Mike Pollitt started his career with Manchester United but since then has seen more clubs than Jack Nicklaus: 13 in all.
Lower-league destinations on his CV - which amounts to not much less than a Grand Tour Of The North – include Bury, Lincoln, Darlington, Oldham, Notts County, Rotherham, Sunderland and Chesterfield, with the odd sojourn south of Solihull for half a dozen appearances in places like Gillingham and Brentford.
After eight years of having his belongings in a backpack, he settled at Rotherham – and excelled. He broke the Millers' clean-sheet record – over two spells, characteristically broken by a trip elsewhere, in this instance a season at Saltergate – before moving to the JJB in June 2005 for £75,000.
Intended as back-up to John Filan, Bolton-born Pollitt ended up playing in the majority of the Latics’ subsequent Premiership campaign and started the Carling Cup final against Manchester United, before being forced off injured.
He has since played second fiddle to big signing Chris Kirkland, but when the younger man was injured at the tail-end of the 2007-08 season, Pollitt stepped in once more. You get the impression he'll be willing and able to do just that for a good while yet.