Bolton 1-2 Bradford (Carabao Cup)

Preview: Bolton Wanderers vs Bradford City

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Wanderers Head Coach Ian Evatt will take charge of his first competitive fixture tomorrow afternoon with fellow Sky Bet League Two side Bradford City the visitors to the University of Bolton Stadium for a Carabao Cup Round One tie.

There could be a whole host of players making their Bolton Wanderers debuts tomorrow afternoon, notably so strike duo Eoin Doyle and Nathan Delfouneso as well as newly appointed captain, Antoni Sarcevic who was last weekend elected to wear the armband for the 2020/21 campaign.

Team news will be available from 2pm tomorrow afternoon.



Pre-Match Quotes:

Ian Evatt: ‘It’ll be a good game. They’ll fancy their chances in League Two this season, they’re a big club in their own right. It’s a good test because it’s a good benchmark for where we’re at.

‘This is the real thing now, we’ve been waiting a long time for this. Hopefully the lads will go out there, focus on the process and what we’re trying to do as a team. If we do that then I’m more than confident that we’ll get the right result.’



Stuart McCall: ‘We are going flat out for a victory. The game is against one of our rivals who have just come down into the same division as us.

‘We will go out there and treat it as though it is our first league game, because we are desperate to win.

‘Playing behind closed doors will be a big learning curve for everybody involved, but we are just looking forward to being in a competitive game.’

                                                 

How to watch:

The game will be available to watch with an iFollow match pass available for just £10.

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Team News:

Dennis Politic will be unavailable for the foreseeable future after sustaining a knee injury in the pre-season victory at Loughborough University. Liam Edwards and Muhammadu Faal are likely to miss out through injury.

Eoin Doyle could line up against his former side for the first time since departing Valley Parade for Swindon Town earlier in the year.

Bradford City’s Levi Sutton is suspended but aside from him, Stuart McCall declared everyone as fit and ready. Former Wanderer Clayton Donaldson could line up for the Bantams tomorrow afternoon.



Bookies Odds:

Bolton win: 1/1

Draw: 23/10

Bradford win: 13/5

Correct as of 04/09/2020 (4.30pm) on skybet.com



Form:

Many people say that you can’t read too much into pre-season results but Wanderers have had a pretty encouraging summer in the main.

Wanderers recorded four victories against Atherton Collieries, Bamber Bridge, Loughborough University and Accrington Stanley but have lost the last two rehearsals against Sky Bet League One duo Wigan Athletic and Crewe Alexandra.

The Bantams have been beaten three times in their three known pre-season friendlies. Losing by a goal against Doncaster Rovers, Huddersfield Town and Wigan Athletic.

Stuart McCall’s side will be looking to build on a 9th place finish in Sky Bet League Two last season with Wanderers aiming to bounce back in style following relegation from Sky Bet League One.



Last time out:

Bolton Wanderers 1-1 Bradford City | Checkatrade Trophy | 03/09/19



Wanderers: Alexander, Brockbank, Senior, Zouma, Boon, King-Harmes (Fitzmartin 76), Graham, Weir, Politic (White 82), Darcy, Brown (Brown-Sterling 65).

Bradford City: Hornby, French, P.O’Connor, Richards-Everton, Gibson, Anderson, Devine, Pritchard (Wood 66), Longridge, Devitt (Patrick 17), Donaldson (Ismail 63).



Match Officials:

Referee: Martin Coy

Assistant Referees: Matthew Parry and Thomas Harty

Fourth Official: Paul Stonier

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F****** massive banana skin this. Lose this and all the hype we’ve been fed looks daft. Hopefully we actually are a great team.

karlypants wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Is that the Bolton or Bradford team?

Natasha Whittam wrote:

karlypants wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Is that the Bolton or Bradford team?

Bolton's of course!

I see we've signed another striker - Shaun Miller.

Stats don't look great to be honest but we'll see.

So when are we starting this new attractive style of football 

FT Bolton 1-2 Bradford

Enjoyable game, shame about the result. Can see the change in style, especially first half and we kept possession very well at times. But too often moves broken down because of sloppy passes as we moved up the field.

Like Comley, Santos and Crellin. Thought Sarcevic looked off the pace despite his goal and id be concerned if the plan was to play Baptise in the centre of a three every week. The marking was a joke at times.

Disappointing but such a big change will take time I suppose, enough positives not to be overly concerned in my opinion.

Some good passing, but sadly didn't amount to anything.

Defence was a bit worrying.

With two home league games next week we need to get some points on the table.

Early days , I know.



Crelin  and Jones did well.

Santos passed it well but was caught out for both goals. Feel the same as T.R.O.Y about Baptiste not great today.

Thought Tom White was good and very busy in midfield but it's early days yet with a team with 17 new players.

Not overly dissappointed, the pluses when have we ever had 70% possession thought Crellin looked comfortable had concerns but he did well, never seen a centre half (Santos) have so much possession, thought Taft , Jones and White all did well. Delfensou looks interesting.

Concerns: we never looked like keeping a clean sheet, Our three biggest signings underperformed especially Doyle.  Despite all the possesion we created very little, Considering the height in the team no one dominated in the air either at the back or from set pieces. Another plus was some of the set peices showed invention, time will improve all the above with a new group.

I'm sure we'll still walk the league

Natasha Whittam wrote:I'm sure we'll still walk the league

Defense needs to learn NOT to social distance.

wanderlust wrote:F****** massive banana skin this. Lose this and all the hype we’ve been fed looks daft. Hopefully we actually are a great team.

Ok my pre match thoughts are perhaps a bit harsh  - as all the believers have said it’s still early doors - but we need a damned sight more than good PR - although  it has sold over 7k season tickets TBF - which can only help the club.

On the positive side we don’t look like relegation material for once. I hope
Let’s see what happens in the league.

A bit of good news yesterday was that FGR lost and League 2 relegation favourites, Morecambe, won  (on pens).
Seeing as we'd employed a couple of their 'not wanteds', I had a quick look at the Morecambe trust accounts yesterday morning. It was like comparing a dahlia to a dandelion when set alongside Bolton's. Well done the Shrimps Trust.

Don't know which was the more disappointing:- Bolton's performance or England's.....

Report: Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Bradford City

Bolton Wanderers bowed out of the Carabao Cup at the first round after being edged out by fellow Sky Bet League Two outfit Bradford City.

The visitors took the lead through Lee Novak midway through the first half before Wanderers’ skipper Antoni Sarcevic levelled the contest less than two minutes after the half-time break.

But the Bantams put themselves into the next round when substitute Harry Pritchard looped in a header beyond the impressive Billy Crellin.

Head Coach Ian Evatt handed out ten debuts to his Wanderers side with Shaun Miller – his 17th signing of the summer – named among the substitutes.

The visitors started off brightly and Billy Clarke was denied a goalbound header when Ricardo Santos got in a timely block.

Buoyed by their bright start, Bradford, through Clarke, were once again thwarted when Crellin pulled off a smart save to keep out the Irishman’s chipped effort.

Wanderers responded to the early pressure and Santos, after a charging run, saw his shot from distance crash off Richard O’Donnell’s crossbar.

The Bantams keeper was then pressed into action to block Nathan Delfouneso’s effort, while further up the field Crellin once again showed his value by denying Novak who had burst through on goal.

The industrious Tom White, who shone on his debut, fired wide after getting into space.

But Novak broke the deadlock when he tapped home from close range on 26 minutes after he was picked out from the right hand side.

Wanderers were looking to cancel out the visitors’ opener and Eoin Doyle saw an effort deflect off Novak.

Defender George Taft then broke out of defence but his long range drive went over the bar.

Wanderers got on terms 90 seconds after the restart when Sarcevic got on the end of a rebound after Delfouneso had worked some magic on the flank.

The Manchester-born midfielder came close to doubling his tally and putting Wanderers in front when his shot from distance went narrowly wide.

With Wanderers looking the most likely to go on and claim victory, Bradford’s winner came against the run of play when, with 15 minutes of the tie remaining, Pritchard headed across goal to beat Crellin.

New signing Miller came on with just under ten minutes remaining to add some extra impetus in the Wanderers attach, but Evatt’s men were unable to alter the result.

Bolton Wanderers: Crellin, Gordon (Miller 81), Taft, Baptiste, Santos, Jones, White, Sarevic, Comley (Crawford 68), Doyle, Delfouneso
Subs Not Used: Alexander, Delaney, Hickman, Tutte, Amoateng

Bradford City: O'Donnell, P O'Connor, A O'Connor, Staunton, French, Watt, Cooke, Wood, Clarke (Pritchard 62), Novak, Guthrie (Donaldson 72)
Subs Not Used: Longridge, Richards-Everton, Ismail, Hornby, Scales

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