Wanderers begin their Carabao Cup journey with a first-round tie against League Two outfit Salford City.
Both teams have made unbeaten starts to their respective league campaigns with four points from their opening two games.
Wanderers – impressive 3-0 winners over Wycombe at the weekend – will be looking to reach round two for the second year running after beating Championship side Barnsley on penalties in the first round last year.
Salford have reached round two once before in their brief League history, having previously lost first-round ties to Leeds United and Derby County.
Manager quotes
Ian Evatt:
“It was a good performance on Saturday but it only counts for three points.
“You have to move on pretty quickly and we’ve done that. We’ve moved on to Salford now.
“We’ve watched a fair of them from the weekend. They’re a good team, I like the way they play and it’s going to be a good challenge.
“We have to show the same energy and attitude as we did on Saturday and if we bring that again then hopefully our quality and talent will take over.
“But, first and foremost, we must show that same desire and attitude we have of late.”
Salford head coach Neil Wood:
“We’re looking forward to it. It’s a big game, it’s a really hard game, a game that we have to be really prepared for because they’re a good team, they like to play some good football and they like to add some tactical tweaks in there.
“They’re a good team, they’re well set up and they’ve got some good footballers there so it’s not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination.
“We’ve got nothing to lose but we’ve got to make sure we play how we think we can play and keep building on our performances from the last two games.”
Team news
Wanderers will be without forward Dion Charles with a thigh injury but have no fresh injury concerns.
Former Wanderers’ captain and midfield man Jason Lowe will make his 100th appearance for Salford if he features.
The Ammies will also have experienced midfielder Matthew Lund available after completing a three-match ban.
But defenders Liam Shephard and Ash Eastham are out through injury and summer signing Stephen Mallan remains a doubt.
Teams are allowed to name nine substitute and use up to five.
Form guide:
Wanderers extended their unbeaten run in League One to 10 games with an emphatic 3-0 win over Wycombe on Saturday which made it four points from their opening two league fixtures.
The Whites’ winning home start means they have lost just once at the University of Bolton Stadium since mid-January.
League Two Salford have also made an unbeaten start and are yet to concede a goal.
City kicked off their campaign with a 2-0 home win against Mansfield Town and then drew 0-0 at Swindon Town last Saturday.
Wanderers completed the double over Salford in their 2020/21 promotion-winning season.
Match details:
If the scores are level after 90 minutes, the match will go straight to penalties.
The winner of the tie will qualify for round two, with the draw taking place live on Sky Sports following Wednesday night’s first-round game between Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland.
Officials:
Referee: John Brooks
Assistant referees: Natalie Aspinall and Marc Perry
Fourth official: Peter Wright
Kick-off:
Tuesday 7.45pm
Coverage:
Full match commentary is available to listen to via iFollow. For match pass and subscription details click HERE