Wanderers finish their run of three consecutive home games when hosting Fleetwood Town on Saturday afternoon.
With two games of the season remaining in Sky Bet League One, Ian Evatt’s side find themselves in 5th position, knowing that two victories will secure their place in the end-of-season play-offs.
The Whites will be looking for a repeat of their final home game of last season when they beat a Fleetwood side which has since been re-built this season under Scott Brown and will be eyeing a possible top-10 finish.
Manager quotes
Ian Evatt:
“We have to do all we can to try and get there. We still know we have to win two games and nothing’s really changed in that aspect.
“We’ve got a game at home on Saturday and the goal is to win that game and that’s as far as it gets right now.
“We’ll go about things the same way. We’ll try and create as much as we can. We’ll try and limit the opposition as best we can and hopefully that’s good enough to get a result on the day.
“We’re in a pretty good place. The players are still annoyed by Tuesday and still determined to put things right and hopefully we’ll see that on Saturday.”
Fleetwood manager Scott Brown:
“Bolton have a lot to play for as there are three teams going for two positions now in the play-offs.
“They had a disappointing result against Accy, who are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the division so they are extremely hungry and will naturally make every game they’ve got left a tough one for their opposition.
“We’ve got to do the same, we got to make sure that we turn up as we know they are going to come for us as they’ve got a lot to play for and we are in a position that we haven’t got a lot to play for, but it’s the way you want to finish the season.
“They will be looking to bounce back, but we are in a good place, in a good run of form, and the lads are enjoying playing games right now.”
Team News
Ian Evatt confirmed that Wanderers have no fresh injury concerns ahead of this weekend’s game when speaking to the press on Thursday afternoon.
Defenders Ricardo Almeida Santos and Eoin Toal are making further positive steps forward with their recoveries as they edge closer to a return, whilst Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Jack Iredale continue with their ongoing rehab.
Scott Brown said in his pre-match media that they may look to change up their side up for their visit to the University of Bolton Stadium this weekend as they look to freshen up in their final games of the campaign.
After handing a debut to goalkeeper Stephen McMullan, who came in and produced a Man of the Match performance in their win over MK Dons, the Fleetwood boss has hinted that some of their younger members of the first team squad may also get minutes when taking on Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.
Form guide
After a positive run of results in the month of April, defeat to Accrington Stanley on Tuesday night handed Wanderers their first defeat in eight games, stretching back to the 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in March.
A 14th home win of the season this weekend would come at a vital time for the Whites, helping to cement their place in the top six heading into the final weekend of the season.
Fleetwood are currently sitting in 12th position and on a three-game unbeaten run.
Having strengthened considerably in January, Scott Brown’s side have lost two of their last nine games following successive away defeats in March to climb up the table.
Officials:
Referee: Benjamin Speedie
Assistant referees: Daniel Woodward, Billy Smallwood
Fourth official: Grant Taylor
Kick-off:
Saturday, 3pm
Coverage:
Listen to the game live via BWFC iFollow with a £2.50 audio match pass which can be purchased HERE
Tickets:
Tickets are still available to buy for official club members HERE