Bolton Wanderers play host to Wycombe Wanderers at The UniBol this evening in hoping to firmly pull away from the relegation conversation.

Despite flirting with the automatic promotion places at the beginning of the campaign the Trotters find themselves just three points above the bottom four at the halfway stage of the season.

Ian Evatt has been backed in the transfer market with Marlon Fossey and Dion Charles already making their way through the door with the one outgoing being striker Eoin Doyle, with the 33-year-old returning to his homeland to join up with St Patrick's Athletic.

There were plenty of positives to take from Bolton's last league outing, a 2-1 defeat at Rotherham United, and with Gareth Ainsworth's Chairboys not playing a dissimilar style to the Millers, Evatt may take a similar approach even on home soil.

Here, we are predicting a defence first but still enterprising starting XI to take on Wycombe this evening...

More as a necessity than anything else George Thomason had been playing in a deeper midfield role towards the back end of 2022, but MJ Williams' welcome return from injury will see him return from the start if fit enough to do so. Alongside George Johnston there should be a capable screen in front of the back four to grab a foothold in the game.

 

 

Looking at the league table, 17th hosting third, Wycombe should be strong favourites but it is more evenly matched than that as the Chairboys picking up a hard-fought 1-0 win in the reverse fixture reflected. Amadou Bakayoko and Nathan Delfouneso will be disappointed to miss out but Bolton still have the talent in wide areas to cause plenty of problems under the lights.