Match Preview: Fleetwood Town v Bolton Wanderers

18 November 2022

Fleetwood Town are set to face Bolton Wanderers at Highbury Stadium on Saturday 19 November, and we have all the information you need to know ahead of the 3pm kick-off in our match preview.

Fixture: Fleetwood Town v Bolton Wanderers

Competition: Sky Bet League One

Date: Saturday 19 November 2022

Kick-off: 15:00

Venue: Highbury Stadium, Park Ave, Fleetwood, FY7 6SP

FLEETWOOD TOWN

The Cods come into this game off the back of a 2-2 draw away at Bristol Rovers on Saturday afternoon. Shaun Rooney scored a brace at the Memorial Stadium with his second being a 99th minute header in front of the travelling away fans.

Town have won their last two homes games, with the first being a 3-0 win over Lancashire rivals Accrington Stanley, and the latter being the 3-1 victory over Oxford City in the Emirates FA Cup. With those two impressive home performances, the gaffer Scott Brown will want more of the same against Bolton Wanderers.

Looking at fitness, Admiral Muskwe remains on the sideline with Harvey Macadam back on the grass, but this game at the weekend is just too early for the midfielder. With how Fleetwood played in the first half away at Bristol Rovers, will there be many chances to Brown's side?

BOLTON WANDERERS

The Sky Bet League One side currently sit 7th in the table after picking up 28 points from their opening 17 matches. Their last match in the league was a goalless draw away at Cambridge United. Former Fleetwood Town midfielder, Kyle Dempsey saw red in the match which means he will miss the return to Highbury Stadium this weekend.

Thie last win was a narrow 2-1 victory over Burton Albion at the University of Bolton Stadium. With Burton leading by a goal to nil with three minutes on the clock, a 87th minute goal from Amadou Bakayoko and a 90th minute goal from Jon Dadi Bodvarsson sealed a late win for The Trotters.

Dion Charles is the one to watch this weekend. The former Town forward has scored 3 goals in 14 appearances this season and after featuring against Fleetwood for Accrington Stanley in recent years, the youngster will be wanting to prove a point back on the Fylde Coast.

WHAT SCOTT BROWN SAID AHEAD OF THE GAME

“Ian [Evatt] has done a great job there and we know they’re a possession-based team who also like to create lots of chances. They have scored 19 goals this season, similar to us in that respect and conceded 17 goals and that’s maybe why they have changed shape.

“I know we have changed shape in recent weeks but for us, it’s going to be a good day because they might switch it up and go man for man with us but we need to deal with whatever structure they bring to the game. Playing against these big teams excites the lads, they look forward to it so hopefully, there’s a similar outcome.

“They have a strong squad and when you’re at a big club like Bolton, you should be up there but at the same time, it’s important that we know that whether we play home or away, we can go and get points against the big sides, and we’ve done that at Portsmouth and also got three points away at Peterborough."

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW LIVE ON IFOLLOW HERE!

IFOLLOW DETAILS

After a tense last game of the season; the Cods will be facing Bolton again on this Saturday, this time on home turf at Highbury Stadium.

With a draw last time out against Bristol Rovers, and defender Shaun Rooney scoring a 90+9th minute header to seal a point out on the road, Fleetwood Town boss Scott Brown will be looking to take the all three points from the game to help push the Cods up the table.

On the day of the game, there will be two matchday packages available for our UK-based and overseas supporters:

Audio Match Pass - £2.50

Video Match Pass - £10.00*

*This pass is available for those who are based overseas and in the United Kingdom.

Those who choose the Audio Match Pass option will get access to just the commentary, which will be provided by our partners, BBC Radio Lancashire.

Season passes are available for both overseas and for all UK-based members of the Cod Army! You can find more details by heading over to our iFollow page.

Match Previews

Match Reports

Report: Town suffer a last-minute defeat to Bolton at Highbury

19 November 2022

Fleetwood Town suffered a cruel last-minute defeat to Bolton Wanderers at Highbury on Saturday afternoon.

A magic moment mid-way through the first half from Carlos Mendes Gomes wasn’t enough to earn Town anything against Bolton Wanderers, as the Sky Bet League One fixture ended in a 2-1 win for the visitors courtesy of late goals by Conor Bradley and Oladapo Afolayan.

The game began at a very high tempo, Bolton came out of the traps the faster of the two sides, but Josh Earl and Toto Nsiala were solid at the back for Town, alongside Harrison Holgate.

The first real chance of the game came eleven minutes in when Elias Kachunga drove inside the Cods’ box, but his shot was tame and easy for Jay Lynch to collect.

Town then responded with an attempt of their own three minutes later when Holgate got his head onto a swinging cross by Danny Andrew.

The Cods however put themselves in the lead when Mendes Gomes smashed his shot past James Trafford in the Trotters' goal to provide a moment of brilliance.

It was end-to-end for most fob the game, and Town were up for it. Bolton started fast but slowed once Scott Brown’s men found their groove. Josh Earl ran into the box and drilled the ball across the face of goal, but nobody was there to tap it home.

Then it was the turn for Andrew to have an opportunity, but his shot went over the bar, which was the last chance of the first 45 as more of the same was expected after the break.

Bolton were looking for a reaction straight away as they were down in the first half, but it seemed to be more Town creating chances. As Mendes Gomes found Earl, the defender had a great chance on goal as his effort was very narrowly wide of the target.

Then, the Trotters came at Town with a flurry of efforts. It was almost pinball in the box, but nothing came of the chances for Ian Evatt’s men. Some brilliant defending by Nsiala soon followed as he managed to do enough to deny Bolton’s Dion Charles from getting a foot on the ball in the 57^th minute.

Lynch was then called into action once again just after as he had to pull off a fantastic save to deny Owen Beck from inside the area, keeping the scoreline in Town’s favour.

With 35 minutes left, Afolayan powered Bolton forwards but to no prevail as his cross was drilled across the face of goal with no Wanderers forward to make contact. Most of the second half saw the visitors try to find an elusive equaliser as they piled on the pressure throughout.

However, Rooney, who was becoming an influential figure in the game, ran down the right flank and struck an effort which hit the post of Trafford’s goal. Ever so close to a second for Town with just 18 minutes to go.

As the game got down to its final five minutes, Bolton hit back through Bradley who got on the end of a drilled cross by Kieran Sadlier. A kick in the teeth happened with seconds to go as the points were snatched away as Afolayan converted from close range to secure the win for Bolton.

Town XI: Lynch (GK), Andrew, Mendes Gomes (Omochere 60’), Vela (C), Morton, Warrington, Holgate, Nsiala, Batty (Lane 87’), Rooney, Earl.

Unused subs: Stolarczyk (GK), Wiredu, J.Garner, G.Garner, Johnston.

Trotters XI: Trafford (GK), Jones, Almeida Santos (C), Johnston, Charles (Bodvarsson 63’), Morley, Afolayan, Bradley, Kachunga (Sheehan 82’), Thomason, Beck (Sadlier 79’).

Unused subs: John, Williams, Iredale, Toal.