Bolton Wanderers will play host to Cheltenham Town on Saturday as both sides aim to continue positive runs at either end of the League One table.

Thanks to four straight victories, the hosts sit second in England's third tier with a two-point lead over third place, while their visitors have climbed within three points of safety under Darrell Clarke.

Match preview

Bolton head into the weekend aiming to continue a fine run of form in their League One automatic promotion bid under the management of Ian Evatt, having put themselves in pole position for a top-two finish in recent weeks.

While they have remained around the top of the England's third tier for the entirety of the campaign thus far, a draw with Oxford United and back-to-back defeats to Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers between late November and mid-December saw the Trotters lose some ground and sit on 39 points from 20 outings, before they bounced back in style during the festive period.

Since those setbacks, the Lancashire outfit have recorded four consecutive league victories, firstly besting Leyton Orient and Lincoln City either side of Christmas before making it three on the bounce in a 2-0 triumph away at Fleetwood Town courtesy of goals from Dion Charles and Victor Adeboyejo.

Burton Albion then visited the Toughsheet Community Stadium in the last round of league games on New Year's Day, and Evatt's men again came away with all three points as a Jasper Moon own goal made the only difference, and they now return to third-tier action on the back of a pair of positive cup outings, firstly forcing a replay in the FA Cup third round as they saw out a goalless draw away at Premier League Luton Town before most recently progressing in the EFL Trophy with a 3-1 win away at Accrington Stanley in the third round on Wednesday thanks to goals from Cameron Jerome, Aaron Morley and Kyle Dempsey.

Now turning their focus back to their promotion bid, having put themselves in a strong position with a two-point lead over third-placed Peterborough United and just a two-point gap to leaders Portsmouth with a game in hand on the former and two in hand on the latter, Bolton Wanderers will aim to make it five wins on the bounce in the third tier this weekend with the change to go top and further strengthen their claim for a climb back to the Championship.

Their visitors, meanwhile, will aim to build on a positive run of their own in their fight at the other end of the division as they look to maintain their third-tier status this year.

When Darrell Clarke took over as Cheltenham Town manager at the beginning of October, he inherited a side who were rooted to the foot of the table having only managed a single point from their opening 10 games while failing to score a single goal, but the new boss has quickly inspired an eye-catching turnaround.

In his 15 games at the helm thus far, the Robins have taken their points tally to 23, managing their first six league wins of the season along the way while only suffering five defeats, and moving within touching distance of safety as a result.

Following back-to-back wins over Carlisle United and Shrewsbury Town either side of Christmas to move onto 19 points from 22 games, the Gloucestershire side did suffer a brief setback as they went on to play out a 2-2 draw with Reading and suffer a 1-0 defeat away at Northampton Town on New Year's Day, but they would bounce back in style last time out, defying the odds to beat league leaders Portsmouth 2-1 having come from a goal behind thanks to Liam Sercombe's brace early in the second half.

Having quickly bridged the gap to their rivals in the fight for survival after looking all but down and out in the opening 10 games, Cheltenham Town now sit 22nd and just three points adrift of safety with 21 league games to go, and they will be keen to again make it back-to-back three point hauls to further strengthen their claim to avoid the drop with another major scalp this weekend.

Team News

After making rotations for the EFL Cup meeting with Accrington Stanley last time out, Ian Evatt should revert to a full-strength Bolton Wanderers starting XI on Saturday with Dion Charles and Victor Adeboyejo bound to return and lead the line from the start having notched up 13 and seven League One goals respectively so far this term.

The Trotters tend to line up in a 3-5-2 shape, and Eoin Toal, Ricardo Santos and Will Forrester should line up in a back three while there is more competition for places in midfield.

Kyle Dempsey should get the nod to take up an advanced role in support of the front two, while Aaron Morley, Paris Maghoma, Josh Sheehan and George Thomason will also fight to feature from the start.

Darrell Clarke should opt to field an unchanged Cheltenham starting XI from their 2-1 victory over Portsmouth last time out for the meeting with the division's other frontrunners in a similar 3-5-2 shape to that of their hosts.

With key forwards Rob Street and Will Goodwin remaining out of action, George Lloyd and Aidan Keena will again start up front, while Liam Sercombe will support them from the midfield having notched up six goals alongside two assists in his last 13 league appearances from that advanced role, including the decisive brace last weekend.

He should again be joined by Elliot Bonds and Tom Pett, while Liam Smith, Tom Bradbury and veteran Curtis Davies are bound to line up in an unchanged back three.

Bolton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Baxter; Toal, Santos, Forrester; Dacres-Cogley, Sheehan, Morley, Iredale; Dempsey; Adeboyejo, Charles

Cheltenham Town possible starting lineup:
Southwood; Smith, Davies, Bradbury; Long, Pett, Sercombe, Bonds, Williams; Keena, Lloyd

We say: Bolton Wanderers 2-1 Cheltenham Town

Saturday's test will certainly not be an easy one for Bolton, with Cheltenham Town looking a completely new side and marching towards safety under Clarke, but the hosts do still boast far more quality throughout their squad and should have what it takes to get over the line on home turf and make it five straight three-point hauls in League One.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Previews by email