Bolton Preview

News leading up to the Bolton game is that both Marcus Bent and Johnathan Spector have both played their last games of the season, and in Spector’s case, probably his last game for the club. Curbishley has given Marcus Bent the luxury of an extra month off to reward all of the stupendous work he has done for the side this year, and he hopes that Marcus will return a fitter and stronger player next term. I certainly second that.

As for players who WILL be involved at the Reebok, Sankofa looks set to make his first start for the club, and the official site reminds us that Darren Bent is bidding to become the first Charlton striker to hit 20 top flight goals in over 50 years. I’m not sure this will be the game where he reaches that particular milestone, but I do back him to break the record at home to Blackburn a week later.
In midfield, I would expect to see Ambrose come in for Thomas, which will leave Hughes out on the left, with Kish and Holland in the centre. The back four will pick itself due to the players we have available, and either Bartlett or Bothroyd will complete the XI.

Bolton are a bogey side for us there is no doubt about it. We have only ever beaten them once in our Premiership years, and they are looking to conclude a second successive double over the Addicks. Their team news shows that Diouf will sit this one out while he recovers from his hernia operation, while Ben Haim returns from his one match ban.

Comparisons can certainly be drawn between the sizes of our two clubs, and the league table shows that with a victory this weekend we could leapfrog the Trotters into the top half of the league. Why then is it portrayed by the media that Bolton have had a decent season, and we have merely had an average one? Although the football we play hasn’t exactly delighted the watching pundits this year, no one could claim that Bolton’s particular brand of industrial football has set the league alight either. I can’t think of many other teams (not clubs) that I dislike more than Bolton, they strangulate teams that try to play football against them, they use excessive force in the tackle (a polite way of saying that they’re dirty b*stards), and they will deny us both space and time on the ball. Their tactics don’t encourage football to be played, and if they really have ambition of moving their own club up to the next level they will have to add a few more craftsmen to their collection of cloggers.

Much as I would love us to beat them at their place, I can’t let the heart rule the head. They haven’t scored a goal for four games, and I can’t see our patched up defence keeping them out.

Cynic Athletic’s Prediction – 2-0 Defeat (Stelios, Nolan)