Bolton 0-1 Portsmouth

Another defeat I reckon, in the words of one poster on here we'll get dicked.

4-1

it's hard/mad to say it but 2-1 win for Bolton.

Dicked 0-3.

Ken out.

Banks of the Croal wrote:it's hard/mad to say it but 2-1 win for Bolton.

Nurse!

A fantastic club with a superb fan base, Vs Bolton.

Won't be as bad as last week. 

1-6

Preview: Portsmouth (H)

Wanderers play host to Kenny Jackett’s Portsmouth tomorrow afternoon in a Sky Bet League One clash at the University of Bolton Stadium.

Portsmouth currently sit in 8th place in the table on 38 points and come into the game following a 2-1 win at home to AFC Wimbledon last weekend. Pompey are undefeated in their last four games with three wins and one draw.

Team News

In his pre-match interview with bwfc.co.uk, Wanderers manager Keith Hill said that:

“There are no fresh injuries, we have managed to circumnavigate the week and we’re looking forward to the game, picking and selecting from the squad and players we have available.”

Jason Lowe will likely return to the starting line-up tomorrow after serving a three-match suspension; the Manager spoke about his return and he said:

“It’s always a boost when you are adding players of his quality to your squad.

"He has served his suspension and made himself available which I’m really pleased about that”.

The latest addition, left-sided defender Brandon Fleming who signed on loan from Hull City earlier today, is available for selection.

Head to Head

Wanderers have faced Pompey 98 times with their first-ever meeting coming on the 19th of November 1927, resulting in a 3-1 victory for the Whites.

The last meeting between the two sides earlier this season saw Portsmouth win 1-0 at Fratton Park, with the only goal of the game coming from Brett Pitman.

The Whites’ last victory against Portsmouth came in a 3-2 Premier League win away in September 2009. Tamir Cohen, Matthew Taylor and Gary Cahill were on the scoresheet that day.

Match Coverage

As usual, match updates will be provided by the club’s official twitter account (@OfficialBWFC). We will keep you up to date with the action to ensure you don’t miss a kick – delivering a match report shortly after the final whistle with post-match reaction from manager, Keith Hill.

Live commentary will also be available by the iFollow BWFC channel (subscribe via the website), with the Bolton FM team providing the coverage.

Betting Odds

Wanderers come into the game as betting underdogs at the time of writing, according to Sky Bet, being priced to win at 17/4

Portsmouth are favourites at 8/13, with a draw priced at 11/4.

Man in the Middle

Saturday afternoon’s game will be officiated by Tom Nield, with Matthew Smith, Craig Taylor and Graeme Fyvie completing the refereeing line-up.

Nield has officiated 21 matches this season, with the most recent game being a 0-0 draw between Oxford United and Ipswich Town.

So far this campaign he has handed out 62 yellow cards and two red cards.

In his five years of officiating Nield has refereed one Bolton match, which was earlier this season at Adams Park against Wycombe Wanderers on the opening day of the 2019/20 campaign.

Key man for Portsmouth – Ronan Curtis

The main man for Portsmouth tomorrow afternoon will be Republic of Ireland forward Ronan Curtis

Curtis has scored 10 league goals and 11 goals in all competitions for Kenny Jackett’s side this season.

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Deserved at least a point today enjoyable tussle the lads put a real shift in, but it just wasn't enough.

Watched on a stream, and if the EFL aren't sending us bent refs I'd be very amazed, they could have easily been playing with 9 men today.

Report: Bolton Wanderers 0-1 Portsmouth

Christian Burgess’s first half goal ensured Portsmouth travelled to the south coast with all three points in spite of Bolton Wanderers’ spirited performance.

Keith Hill’s men were desperately unfortunate not to pick up the point their performance deserved.

Brandon Fleming was handed his debut at left back and Jason Lowe returned from suspension as Hill made two changes from the side that played at Lincoln in midweek. Daryl Murphy was omitted on compassionate grounds while Yoan Zouma was left out of the squad.

Alex Bass in the Pompey goal unconvincingly punched Ronan Darcy’s corner inside a crowded penalty area as Wanderers put on some early pressure, but the hosts were penalised shortly after for a foul against the ‘keeper.

Ethan Hamilton went narrowly wide from a tight angle after controlling a pass from Darcy.

Joe Dodoo was in the right place to shepherd the ball behind for a goal kick after Ronan Curtis’s free-kick into the box was intended for Sean Raggett.

Fleming saw his deflected cross loop into the box but Bass did well to claim the ball whilst under pressure from Dodoo.

Pompey defender Raggett survived a huge appeal for a sending off as he brought down Dodoo who was clear through on goal. The defender was brandished with a yellow.

Remi Matthews made a great save to deny Curtis’s fiercely struck effort as Portsmouth tried to break the deadlock.

But the visitors got their noses in front three minutes before the break when Burgess slammed home from close range.

Wanderers tried to respond immediately and Dennis Politic was unlucky to see his powerful shot go wide of target.

Wanderers lost Liam Edwards at the break, through injury and Chris O’Grady came on in his place.

Politic was in the thick of the action just after the restart and forced Bass into making a smart save to prevent the young attacker from equalising.

At the other end, Josh Emmanuel put in a superb block to keep out Cameron McGeehan.

O’Grady was unable to divert Ethan Hamilton’s pass into the goal after some excellent work by Darcy on the right.

Darcy was his usual busy self and his cross from the right-hand side found O’Grady who could only head wide.

Politic tried his luck from just outside the box once again but his effort was held by Alex Bass.

Emmanuel showed some great moves as he twisted and turned to evade some defenders but could only fire over the crossbar with his left foot.

Bass then made a stunning save to keep out Politic’s fierce drive which appeared destined to earn Wanderers what would have been a deserved equaliser.

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First half we were very poor but improved second half but we just can't convert pressure into chances and goals. Politic was our best player by a mile today even though KH played him as the main striker to start with which made no sense.

Norpig wrote:First half we were very poor but improved second half but we just can't convert pressure into chances and goals. Politic was our best player by a mile today even though KH played him as the main striker to start with which made no sense.

Agree the second half was better, and only a great stop from the keeper foiled a Politic equaliser.

Sadly, the rest of the season looks like being a long drawn out wake.

boltonbonce wrote:

Norpig wrote:First half we were very poor but improved second half but we just can't convert pressure into chances and goals. Politic was our best player by a mile today even though KH played him as the main striker to start with which made no sense.

Agree the second half was better, and only a great stop from the keeper foiled a Politic equaliser.

Sadly, the rest of the season looks like being a long drawn out wake.

Yes much better effort yesterday. Agreed its a long drawn out end now ….all we can do is consolidate and prepare for League two.
I wouldn't mind seeing our full strength team out there for a few games before the end of the season ….that is, the injured players and whatever new signings come in. Just for curiosity at least.