Tomorrow night sees Bolton Wanderers probably facing their biggest game of the season so far. Not only is it a relegation six-pointer, the opponents are a Birmingham City side, now managed by the recently-installed Garry Monk, who have strung together back to back wins at a crucial point in the season. With Barnsley`s game at Nottingham Forest called off today, we will be at least five points clear of the drop zone regardless of what happens tomorrow, but a loss would see us overtaken by the Blues and drop to fourth-bottom. A win though, could see us go eight points clear and as high as 18th.
Vital Quotes:
“We`re going Friday-Tuesday, so we`ve got an extra day. We`re anticipating a big crowd, Birmingham have sold a lot of tickets. We`ll be ready.”
Phil Parkinson speaking to the club`s Youtube channel after Friday.
Bolton Wanderers Team News:
Darren Pratley`s leg injury kept him out of Friday`s game and once again he`s doubtful for tomorrow too. Still waiting for a Karl Henry update too.
Player to watch: Adam Le Fondre
With three goals in his last four starts, I would expect Le Fondre to be leading the line tomorrow and adding to his tally would do no harm.
Birmingham City Team News:
Craig Gardner loves a goal at the Macron, a hamstring injury kept him out of Saturday`s win at Ipswich though, but he could return.
Player to watch: Jota
The attacking midfielder was Birmingham`s record signing when he joined from Brentford in the summer. He has five goals from 25 games this season, including scoring the winner from the spot on Saturday.
Match Facts & Stats
The reverse fixture happened back in August, when the sides played out a goalless draw at St Andrew`s.
We`ve lost the last two games at home against Birmingham.
Craig Gardner has scored in three of his last four league appearances at Bolton, but the last of those came in August 2010.
We`ve kept clean sheets in our last five home games played in the month of April.
Match Prediction:
It`s a must win game. Birmingham will be better than they were perhaps a few weeks ago, but we`re a match for anyone at home, and with a day`s extra recovery I hope we can push on in the latter stages. 2-0 to Bolton.
Next Fixtures:
We travel to Derby on Saturday, before hosting Millwall next Tuesday.