Bolton are back on the road tomorrow hoping to end their awful away record when they travel to Shrewsbury.
Having won last week, we extended the gap above the bottom four to five points. 17th at the moment, we could go 14th, and above our opponents if we picked up all three points in Shropshire.
IAN EVATT | Manager ahead of Shrewsbury Town away fixture – YouTube
Team news
Ian Evatt has no fresh concerns but Xavier Amaechi will have to wait another week before being able to come back into the side. Jon Dadi Bodvarsson should be able to play having joined on Thursday, but whether he starts is another question. It could be a largely unchanged side, but Dapo Afolayan could come back into the team to play alongside Dion Charles if Bodvarsson isn’t ready to start.
Possible XI: Trafford; Jones, Almeida Santos, Johnston; Fossey, Morley, Williams, Lee, John; Afolayan, Charles
Last meeting
We went to Shrewsbury last season in the EFL Trophy group stage. Then a division above us, we were beaten 2-1 as Ryan Barnett and Jason Cummings scored first half goals against a heavily rotated Wanderers side. Adam Senior pulled one back in the second half but ultimately it wasn’t enough. Playing that day for the home side was a certain Marlon Fossey…
The opposition
Shrewsbury go into this one point above us after a very good recent run. They’re on a five game unbeaten run in the league, three of those being wins, while they briefly led at Anfield in the FA Cup tie against Liverpool. Daniel Udoh scored that goal and he has 10 goals this season. Fellow striker Ryan Bowman had to come off in a game against Ipswich after heart palpitations, but he has since being given the all clear and has nine goals this term. Josh Vela is still there in midfield, while Aaron Wilbraham is still number two to Steve Cotterill.
Prediction
This does feel a bit pessimistic after a few signings and a win last week, but Shrewsbury are on a bit of a roll and their directness is likely to cause us problems. 2-0 to Shrewsbury.