On Saturday afternoon this weekend in League One we see Phil Parkinson take his Bolton Wanderers side on the trip to the County Ground to face Luke Williams’ Swindon Town. Bolton are slight favourites for this but with the way they’ve been playing it won’t be an easy match.
The home side Swindon Town head into the visit of Bolton Wanderers on the back of a busy week which will see them play their third game in the space of just seven days. They’ve had a pretty poor start to the season as they currently find themselves just above the relegation zone in 20th place with 12 points from 11 games. With just one win from their previous seven League One fixtures, they will be desperate to make the most of Bolton’s poor form and come away with a much needed win. Their form at the County Ground so far this season has seen them feature 5 times, winning 2 and losing 3. One main issue with their play is that they are lacking a proper goalscorer, not a single player has scored more than two goals for them yet. So they will be looking at main striker Jonathan Obika to start firing some in and get them away from that relegation zone.
In their last League One tie they travelled to New Meadow to face Micky Mellon’s Shrewsbury Town who have also had a poor start to the season and find themselves in the relegation zone. It was the perfect start for Swindon when they took the lead after just 9 minutes when John Goddard got on the end of a Darnell Furlong cross to head home. But they conceded in the worst time possible, right on the stroke of half time Shrewsbury drew level thanks to Ivan Toney who rounded the keeper and slotted into an empty net. The second half was goalless as both sides had to settle for a point.
Their most recent game was on Tuesday evening when they welcomed their rivals, Michael Appleton’s Oxford United to the County Ground in their second round of fixtures in the Checkatrade Trophy. There wasn’t much to report as the 90 minutes were goalless and the teams went straight to a penalty shoot-out. Swindon came away with a 3-1 win from the spot kicks as they collected 2 points in this bizarre new set up.
The away team Bolton Wanderers go into the trip to Swindon Town also on the back of a busy week which will see them play their third match in the last seven days. They started off like a house on fire and were top of the table after the first handful of games, and they looked like they meant serious business in trying to make an immediate return to the Championship. However they have had a terrible run of form recently and are without a win in their last 7 League One fixtures. This means they now find themselves sat in 8th place on 16 points from their 11 games. They have also failed to score a single goal in their previous 4 league matches and they may have to look at bringing Conor Wilkinson back who has scored 4 on loan at Chesterfield so far, more than anybody in their current side.
In their last League One match they welcomed Michael Appleton’s Oxford United to The Reebok Stadium, desperate to pick up their first win for 6 games. However it was the visitors who took control of the game from the moment it kicked off and will have been annoyed they didn’t make it easier for themselves. Bolton were very lucky to go into the break with the scores goalless and then when the clocked ticket to 80 minutes it looked like they were somehow going to take a point. Until Oxford finally broke the deadlock through Wes Thomas who was unmarked at the back post and volleyed the ball home. Oxford doubled their lead in the 90th minute thanks to Chris Maguire who was left with a simple finish after Mark Howard couldn’t hold a Hemmings shot.
Their most recent game was on Tuesday night when they welcomed Gary Bowyer’s League Two Blackpool to the Reebok in the second round of fixtures for the Checkatrade Trophy. The Wanderers finally got their first win since August with a 1-0 victory thanks to Sammy Ameobi’s early strike. It wasn’t exactly convincing but a win is a win and Parkinson will be hoping they can take that winning momentum into Saturday.
Head To Head
These two sides have only previously met on four occasions. Bolton have won three of those four, while the other ended all-square. The last time this pair met was back in 1999 – a match that saw Bolton win 2-0 at home.
Stats
In their last five matches, Swindon have won one, lost two and drawn two. They’ve scored five and have conceded six. Having kept two clean sheets, they’ve failed to score in just one of their last five. Both teams have scored in three of the last five Swindon matches, while three or more goals were scored in two. Bolton, in their last five, have won one, lost three and drawn one. Having scored just one goal and conceded four, they’ve kept two clean sheets and have failed to score in four of their last five. Both teams have scored in none of the last five Bolton matches, while none of those five saw more than two goals go in either.
Team News
Lloyd Jones is unlikely to feature for the hosts ahead of this one, although the Swindon boss Luke Williams has no other injury/suspension concerns.
Bolton have a number of players returning from injury, while Chris Taylor is expected to miss this match. Lewis Buxton, Darren Pratley and Max Clayton all remain out long-term.
