Bolton Wanderers vs Hull City, Npower Championship Saturday 23rd February 2013 The Reebok Stadium (Bolton) 3:00pm Kick off Bolton Wanderers One of many people's pre Season favourites for Promotion, Bolton are struggling to find their feet in the Championship since their relegation from the top flight last Season. There are many talented players who remained at the Club after the relegation such as Kevin Davies, Chung-Yong Lee, former Tigers Keith Andrews and Sam Ricketts, Marvin Sordell, Chris Eagles, David Ngog and Mark Davies etc whilst also making additions with former Barnsley starlet Craig Davies. Underachieving, Bolton find themselves caught between mid-table and a relegation scrap, and with 1 win in 7 threatens to pull Bolton in amongst the relegation dogfight. They are however, unbeaten in 3 with their last loss coming to Watford (1-2) and their most recent game being a 1-1 draw with Derby County. Bolton looked a poor outfit when they came to the KC Stadium, and don't seem to improved drastically since. They're perfectly able to score a goal however, with Kevin Davies, David Ngog, Craig Davies and Marvin Sordell in their arsenal with Darren Pratley, Chung-Yong Lee and Chris Eagles behind them, the defence needs to be ready. Hull City 33 games gone and the Tigers are sitting anxiously in 2nd place, 5 points behind leaders Cardiff, with Watford, Crystal Palace and Leicester all close behind. City have an Egyptian contingent of Elmohamady, Gedo and Fathi to aid in the Promotion run-in and with Gedo scoring 3 in 3, he looks to be the missing piece of City's puzzle. After the Manager of the Month award in December, Elmo was recalled and City had a torrid January but February has seen Elmo's return along with his Egyptian counterparts, and City have got another chance for Manager of the Month (Oh no). There doesn't look to be many teams who can stop City at the moment, and they will certainly need to keep consistent as points dropped can be very costly with the chasing pack so close behind. With the best away record in the Division, City can be very optimistic for all 3 points at the Reebok. George Boyd could possibly make his debut too, signed to add some more flare as Sone Aluko looks to be spending a lengthy time on the sidelines with possible surgery. Top Scorers Bolton Wanderers Chris Eagles - 7 goals Marvin Sordell - 6 goals Kevin Davies - 6 goals David Ngog - 5 goals Mark Davies - 5 goals Hull City Sone Aluko - 8 goals Robert Koren - 7 goals Jay Simpson - 6 goals David Meyler - 4 goals Abdoulaye Faye - 4 goals
On paper we look a sure fire winner. Pity we have to play it on grass. Still expect us to win 1-3. (Gedo, Elmo, Boyd).
'33 games gone and the Tigers are sitting anxiously in 2nd place, 5 points behind leaders Cardiff, with Watford, Crystal Palace and Leicester all close behind.' Have I missed something? I could have sworn Agnew spoke of the confidence throughout the team, I thought we played like winners against Blackburn. Where doeds the anxiously come from. We are looking forward not back, or so the assistant manager says. Bolton have some decent larkers but so have we, what they don't have is the confidence that we have. The ace in the hole for Bolton was always their goalkeeper, but Jussi has departed and so has their edge. 1 - 2 to the Tigers, but I would not be surprised by 0 - 3. I think the game will be won before Boyd comes on as a sub. Gedo tipped to continue his run of starts and goals.
If Freedman's comments are anything to go by they won't be prepared properly, having said that when teams try to counter our style based on accurate scouting we tend to rip them apart. I'd take a draw but the win is there for the taking.
TODAY'S TEAM FOR THE TIGERS David Stockdale, Ahmed Elmohamady, James Chester, Alex Bruce, Jack Hobbs, Robbie Brady, Corry Evans, David Meyler, Stephen Quinn, Robert Koren, Gedo. Subs: Eldin Jakupovic, Liam Rosenior, Ahmed Fathi, Tom Cairney, George Boyd, Jay Simpson, Nick Proschwitz. Bolton: Adam Bogdan, Sam Ricketts, Zat Knight, Craig Dawson, Marcos Alonso, Jay Spearing, Darren Pratley, Lee Chung-Yong, Mark Davies, Marvin Sordell, David Ngog. Subs: Andy Lonergan, David Wheater, Medo Kamara, Chris Eagles, Steve De Ridder, Craig Davies, Kevin Davies.
