Bolton Wanderers v Walsall: Match Preview Bolton Wanderers v Walsall: Match Preview
Posted by: Bescot Banter

Bolton Wanderers v Walsall: Match Preview

Here we take a look ahead to the Saddlers' next competitive outing.
Don't forget to join us on Twitter and Facebook, where we'll bring you all the matchday build-up, in-game updates, and post-match reaction as the Saddlers return to action.

News and Views

The Saddlers' winless run continued on Tuesday as they were denied all three points as goalkeeper Liam Roberts and Crawley Town's Jordan Tunnicliffe collided in the latter stages of second-half injury time.

Tom Nichols was able to slam home the resulting and very, very late spot kick to cancel out Emmanuel Osadebe's first goal in a Walsall shirt to deny the Saddlers just their second win in fifteen outings as their struggle continues.

Sadly, the Saddlers' task gets no easier this weekend as they make the trip to the University of Bolton Stadium to take on leagues most in form side, although the reds were able to secure the win in their most recent meeting in December.

The news of the club's decision to appoint a Director of Football is a welcome one but this will do little to impact the ongoing winless run, meaning Head Coach Brian Dutton has to be the one to get something out of the team.

Whilst the team's recent outings haven't resulted in victories, they have seen the team display more desire to get forward although they have only netted once in their last three outings, giving us plenty of cause for concern, especially as some of our rivals have begun to pick up points.

With the games continuing to arrive as a great pace the team simply has to find a way to win games, and soon.

Opponents Bolton are unbeaten in their last eleven outings and will arrive at this weekend's clash on the back of last weekend's one-nil victory over Darrell Clarke's Port Vale.

Head to Head

Walsall and Bolton Wanderers have met on twenty-five previous occasions, and it's the Trotters who hold an overall lead having won twelve times compared to the Saddlers' nine.

There have also been four draws over the history of the fixture, a history which began at the Fellows Park on Saturday, 25th November 1899 as the two sides met in a League Division Two clash which would see four goals scored but would ultimately end all-square at two-all.

Bolton would go on to win the reverse fixture by two-goals-to-nil with the match, which took place on Saturday, 31st March 1900, being their last meeting until March 1972 - an encounter which saw Walsall win by one-goal-to-nil.

The most recent meeting took place at the Banks's in December last year and saw the Saddlers bounce back from going behind to take all three points with Elijah Adebayo and Rory Holden score to cancel out Eoin Doyle's opener.

Man in the Middle

The EFL has confirmed that Sebastian Stockbridge, who is based in Tyne & Wear will be the man in the middle, whilst David Hunt and Richard Woodward have been named as assistant referees. Thomas Harty will act as Fourth Official.

GAMES
25
YELLOW
CARDS
RED
CARDS
83
3
PENALTIES
7

Catch the Match

As we're still unable to attend the game in person we can catch the match via the club's in-house service - iFollow Walsall - which takes you through the highs and lows of each and every Saddlers match.

Not a iFollow Walsall subscriber? A range of options are available, including monthly, annual and gift subscriptions along with a £10 video pass which will enable you to watch the match.

You can purchase a subscription, or find further information on the service by clicking HERE.
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