Bolton started life without Gary Madine with a win. Sammy Ameobi seems to have made the first move towards becoming the new king, with a superb performance against Bristol City, that wonderful individual goal not telling the whole story of an influential night for him.
Phil Parkinson changed the formation, going back to 3-5-2, but playing Ameobi as one of those forwards, alongside new signing Tyler Walker. Walker didn`t have the best of debuts before being substituted to allow the second coming of Zach Clough. Walker showed pace and effort but was never really able to get into the game. He wouldn`t have been helped by a lot of high balls which he was always going struggle to cope with, but at times Wanderers made some decent moves. One came quite late in the match, and could have meant a far more relaxed ending for a positive and loud Macron support, but Clough put his finish over when it looked destined for him to mark his second Bolton debut with a goal, just like he did back in 2015.
We were committed and solid defensively too, which left Lee Johnson disappointed post-match that his team didn`t want it as much as us. Brilliant. Mark Little and Antonee Robinson also gave ample support in the wing-back roles, Robinson`s run making space in which Ameobi could exploit perfectly for the goal.
Obviously, it`s only one game, and as ever we were clinging on a touch at the end, but tonight`s game did give us a first glimpse of life without Gary Madine, and it may not necessarily have to be bad.
Share this article
