After a week off, Bolton are back in action, against a familiar opponent…
Bolton played Fleetwood last Tuesday in the Papa John’s Trophy, and a week later we now go over to the coast to play them in the league. The weather could provide a bit of a twist tomorrow night too, with Storm Barra expected to make it very, very windy. Good luck if you’re one of the fans in the sold out away end.
Team news
It should be the same group available as was for the Trophy game last week. There has been encouraging news about MJ Williams, who is back in training, but he, and we, will have to wait until the Accrington match on Saturday for him to return.
Possible XI: Dixon; Gordon, Almeida Santos, Aimson, John; Johnston, Lee; Kachunga, Thomason, Afolayan; Doyle
Last time out
Our only previous trip to Highbury was in March 2017. We were both in the promotion hunt from League One, but we hadn’t won away in ages, while Fleetwood were 18 unbeaten. In theory, a difficult afternoon lay ahead, but it was anything but. Adam Le Fondre and David Wheater had us 2-0 up in 20 minutes. Kyle Dempsey would pull one back, but Mark Beevers scored just after half time and Le Fondre struck again to make it four. Bobby Grant scored a late consolation, but it finished 4-2 to Bolton, which put us within a point of Fleetwood with a game in hand, and weeks later we secured automatic promotion at Fleetwood’s expense.
The opposition
We know a lot about Fleetwood, having recently played them. It will be a stronger team than the youngsters who largely made up that lineup. They did have a game at the weekend, but it didn’t go well, losing 5-1 at Accrington Stanley.
Prediction
Given the weather forecast it could be a horrible one for both teams, unfortunately that could play into Fleetwood hands. Given our away form hasn’t been good in recent months too, we could come unstuck here. 2-1 to Fleetwood.