A depleted Bolton Wanderers take on Cheltenham Town at the University of Bolton Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Ian Evatt may have a limited number of players to choose from this weekend, but his team go in search of a third consecutive home victory following Tuesday evening’s success against Doncaster Rovers.
Tuesday’s victory turned out to be a pretty comprehensive one for Wanderers, with goals from Eoin Doyle, Elias Kachunga, and George Thomason securing the three points.
The win will have helped boost confidence in a. united camp, but the team comes up against a Cheltenham Town side who are 10th in the table and have lost just once in their last ten matches in all competitions.
A goal in each half from Sean Long and Alfie May proved enough to register their latest victory at Gillingham on Tuesday evening.
Pre-match quotes: From the bosses
Ian Evatt: “They are very effective, they know how to play the system really well and they’re well-coached. Duffer (Michael Duff) has got them really well organised and he’s doing a fantastic job given what he’s got to work with.
“It’s going to be tough – they’re full of confidence. They just had a good result away at Gillingham – a tough place to go to. So yeah, we will roll up our sleeves and go again.”
Michael Duff: "They are a good team. You look at the run they went on after Christmas. They recruited really well in January, spent a little bit of money within that, but a club that gets 20-25,000 every week, shows what a big club it is, even if there were no fans last year.
"They recognised that, went on an unbelievable run to get promoted and they've carried that on and recruited well again. They are a good team, when you look at the stats, they play really expansive football.”
Team news
As has been the case for a couple of weeks, Ian Evatt has selection problems at the moment – and things got even worse on Tuesday evening.
To add to the already lengthy list of absentees, Lloyd Isgrove limped off during Tuesday’s win against Doncaster Rovers with what turned out to be a grade three hamstring tear, and an injury that will likely keep him sidelined for 12 weeks.
Dapo Afolayan will also serve a one-match suspension on Saturday after picking up his fifth league booking of the season during the midweek victory.
The manager however reported that Alex Baptiste could come back into contention for a place in the squad after sustaining a medial ligament strain during last weekend’s defeat at Wycombe Wanderers.
Tickets and Travel
Tickets for Saturday’s fixture remain on sale and are available to Official Club members (one ticket per client reference number).
Ticket prices are as follows:
Adults: from £21.00
Over 65s: from £16.00
Under 23s: from £16.00
Under 18s: £10.00
Under 12s: £8.00
Tickets are available to buy online or via the phone lines by calling 01204 328 888.
We encourage supporters to make use of the ‘Print at Home’ and Digital ticket options on the club’s official e-ticketing site.
Supporters who require wheelchair access or disability seating will need to contact the Ticket Office directly to book their tickets.
Last time out
Bolton Wanderers 1-1 Cheltenham Town | Saturday 16 January 2021
Wanderers ended up having to settle for a draw with Eoin Doyle scoring late on after Alfie May had given Town a second-half lead.
Josh Griffiths was by far the busier of the two goalkeepers and after showing great reactions to keep out Lloyd Isgrove, he then misjudged a cross and had Charlie Raglan to thank for keeping Doyle’s resulting header off the line and sparing his blushes.
Doyle’s header was kept out by Griffiths as Wanderers continued to dominate the first half before the West Brom loanee denied George Thomason.
Town took the lead in the second half through May who scrambled the ball home from close range and Gilks did well to prevent Will Boyle from adding a second for the visitors. The equaliser came following some good work by substitute Arthur Gnahoua who pulled the ball back for Doyle to score from close range.
Wanderers were winless in five matches as a result of the draw but were just a fortnight away from embarking on a 14-match unbeaten run.
Line-Up: Gilks, Jones (Brockbank 63), Almeida Santos, Delaney, Jackson, Isgrove, Thomason (Crawford 67), Lee (Tutte 46), Elbouzedi (Gnahoua 62), Sarcevic, Doyle.
Unused subs: Mascoll, Baptiste, Delfouneso.
Match Officials
Referee: Ross Joyce
Assistant Referees: Graeme Fyvie and Matthew Parry
Fourth Official: Paul Marsden
Also...Former Wanderer Mark Patterson will be in the club shop prior to kick-off tomorrow, signing copies of his new book 'Old School – A Proper Football Education'. You can purchase the book in store and Mark will be around for signings between 1 pm and 2.30 pm!
Further details on the book can also be found HERE