Wanderers go to Accrington Stanley tonight (Wednesday) with a place in the final of the Papa Johns Trophy at stake.
Plymouth Argyle await the winners of the tie at the Wham Stadium after beating Cheltenham on penalties to book their place at Wembley on Sunday, 2 April.
The Whites will be bidding to reach Wembley for the first time since an FA Cup semi-final loss in 2011, while Accrington are seeking a first ever trip to the national stadium.
Manager quotes:
Ian Evatt: “It’s going to be a really tough game and both clubs will see it the same way. It’s a big prize at the end.
“Every young footballer’s dream is to play in cup finals at Wembley Stadium. It’s a great opportunity.
“For us it’s a process thing. We want to make sure we have a good performance. We know what that entails, we just have to execute it well.
“For me, the players just need to focus on our processes, focus on what makes a good performance and if they can perform to the levels I believe they can get to, then we have a good chance of making the final.
“There’s a huge desire from everybody to win that football match, both on the Accrington side and our side and I just hope it’s a good spectacle for the viewers at home and everybody who is going to be lucky enough to be in the stadium.”
Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman:
“Bolton have been on an unbelievable run, although they lost on Saturday to an in-form team in Wycombe.
“They will believe they can have a tilt at the play-offs and it’s nice to see them do well - but not against us.
“They are impressive, they are consistently top of charts in most things they do. Now and again they have a blip and we have to hope they have a blip and we find our feet and get confidence from the win on Saturday and take it forward.
“It’s a 90-minute game and we will throw everything we have got at it, like they will. It promises to be a cracking atmosphere. They will bring a lot and our fans will be brilliant as always.
“We need to give them their day out (at Wembley). We have to reward their loyalty. I can’t praise them enough. They have shared our ups and downs. These fans deserve it and I hope they get it.”
Team news:
Wanderers will be without the cup-tied trio of Shola Shoretire, Victor Adeboyejo and Dan Nlundulu.
Aside from their longer-term absentees, the Whites also have fitness concerns over Kyle Dempsey and Gethin Jones after they picked up knocks in Saturday’s game at Wycombe.
In addition, striker Cameron Jerome faces a check on a back issue.
Accrington also have two cup-tied players in Seb Quirk and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, who are not available.
Stanley have signed former Burnley midfielder Anthony Mancini as a free agent, although it’s not clear whether the 21-year-old Frenchman will be eligible to make a debut.
The long-serving Sean McConville and midfield colleague Tommy Leigh both face fitness checks after coming off in their weekend win over Shrewsbury.
Defender Michael Nottingham is expected to miss out through injury, while centre-half Doug Tharme remains under observation following a recent head injury.
Former Wanderers’ midfielder Joe Pritchard is among those missing longer term.
Form guide:
Wanderers suffered a first defeat in six games at Wycombe on Saturday following a run of five successive league wins.
The 1-0 loss at Adams Park was only the Whites’ second defeat in 15 games since beating Manchester United’s U21s in the Papa Johns Trophy in mid-December.
Ian Evatt men’s followed up that victory by knocking out Portsmouth in the quarter-finals to set up their trip to Accrington where they won 3-2 in a League One fixture in October.
Stanley – 21st in the League One table – secured their first win in six league games with a 1-0 home victory over Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.
The Reds booked their semi-final place in the Trophy with a penalty shoot-out win at Lincoln City in the last eight.
Prior to that, John Coleman’s side won at Grimsby and Burton after progressing through the group stage.
Wanderers came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 when the two sides met at Accrington in the league in October.
Officials:
Referee: Sam Barrott
Assistant referees: Graeme Fyvie, Steven Rushton
Fourth official: Andrew Kitchen
Kick-off:
Wednesday 8pm
Tickets
All away tickets are sold out and there will be no facility to pay and gain entry on the night.
Coverage:
The game is being shown live on Sky Sports. Full match commentary will be available on BWFC iFollow with an audio match pass available HERE