Can the run go on?
Bolton look to extend their unbeaten sequence tomorrow when they travel to Burton. The game was due to be played at the end of December, but with the Wanderers COVID outbreak meaning players only returned to training a couple of days before matchday, the club successfully applied to get it postponed. Just six weeks or so on, we have a much stronger squad, are in the top half, and much more belief we can get the three points. Conditions won’t be great though, the pitch at the Pirelli Stadium didn’t look great at the weekend and weather hasn’t been too good since.
It’s unlikely we’ll be able to leapfrog Ipswich due to goal difference, but with none of the teams immediately above us playing, we could reduce the gap to sixth to five points.
Team news
Kieran Lee will see a specialist about the heel injury which forced him off against Oxford. There are no other new injury concerns, although there could be some rotation given the amount of games and the conditions that might await.
Possible XI: Trafford; Jones, Almeida Santos, Aimson; Fossey, Williams, Morley, John; Afolayan; Bakayoko, Bodvarsson
Last time
Our last trip to Burton was in March 2020, just three days before the pandemic led to football shutting down for a few months. It was ultimately our last game of the 2019-20 season, and Keith Hill’s final game in charge. We took the lead twice, with Ryan Delaney and Ethan Hamilton scoring our goals, but Jamie Murphy equalised on both occasions, the match finishing 2-2.
The opposition
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s Burton are 13th, five points behind us, but with just one win in their last five games, and a single point in February which came at the weekend against Cambridge. They lost both their top goalscorers in January, with Daniel Jebbison returning to parent club Sheffield United, while Kane Hemmings went to Tranmere. Still, Lucas Akins likes a goal against us, while they managed to bring in six players in January, including French left-back Williams Kokolo, who scored against Cambridge.
Prediction
Could be a muddy, sandy pitch with Burton offering a direct threat. This Bolton team is far less of soft touch than it was but still might have to share the points here. 1-1.