Photo by Lee Parker - CameraSport via Getty Images Manny Road Tom rates the players from Saturdays win James Trafford - 6 The default score for a goalkeeper that had nothing to do in ninety minutes. An easy day at the office for Traff. Conor Bradley - 7 Got forward with purpose and ensured Bolton’s threat was predominantly down the right side. Should have found the target when through on goal in the second half. Gethin Jones - 6 A solid if unspectacular performance. Geth will never let the side down. Ricardo Almeida Santos - 7.5Embraced his role as the man tasked with keeping Clarke-Harris quiet. He came out on top of a tough physical battle. George Johnston - 7.5 Stood up to the task after some poor aerial performances in recent games. Solid behind Jack Iredale, who had a difficult afternoon. Jack Iredale - 6 Some good deliveries aside, it was his most ordinary performance yet as a Wanderer. Not at the races. MJ Williams - 7.5 Will MJ ever get the respect he deserves? Snuffed out trouble in the midfield all afternoon. In the rough and tumble fixtures, he’s the first name on the team sheet. George Thomason - 8.5 Outstanding. He was a class above every player on the pitch. He’s in an incredible run of form and long may it continue. Kyle Dempsey - 6 Ran well and harried Peterborough when they were in possession. Didn’t contribute much to our build up play, though. Dion Charles - 5.5 Charles ran well to press the Posh back line, but was wasteful with the ball. Two promising attacks were broken down by Charles’ poor decision making. Elias Kachunga - 7 Worked hard as we have come to expect. An added bonus in this game was his ability to hold the ball up and bring the midfield into the play. Subs: Dapo Afolayan - 7 Bright after coming on, and stayed disciplined in the middle of the park rather than wander out wide into a more natural position. A slice of good fortune for his goal, but a well deserved winner for the Whites. Jon Dadi Bodvarsson - 6 Barely had time to make an impact. Looked bright in spots of build up play. Kieran Sadlier - 6 Poor Sadlier. He left Rotherham to avoid playing as a right wing back, and now finds himself at...left wing back? Maybe one day we’ll see him in his preferred midfield role. Amadou Bakayoko - 5.5 Could have capped the day off with a decent pass to Bodvarsson in a late counter attack. Instead, his cross went wayward for a Peterborough throw-in.

Photo by Eddie Garvey/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images Another striker for Bolton? According to Mirror Sports journalist Darren Witcoop, Bolton Wanderers are one of several teams interested in Queens Park Rangers striker, Macauley Bonne. > QPR plan to send Macauley Bonne out on loan amid strong interest from League One clubs. Ipswich, Shrewsbury and Bolton are among those keen on the striker #bwfc #itfc #salop > > — Darren Witcoop (@DarrenOWitcoop) August 30, 2022 The 26 year old forward has seen his playing time limited at Loftus Road and looks set to move out on loan before the Summer transfer deadline on Thursday. Ipswich Town and Shrewsbury Town are also said to be interested. Bonne is no stranger to Portman Road, having scored twelve goals for Ipswich last season in forty-three appearances. Wanderers already have several forwards in the squad - Dion Charles, Amadou Bakayoko, Dapo Afolayan, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Elias Kachunga. The five of them managed 46 goals last season. Do we need another striker? Whilst it can’t hurt to have more fire power up front, would Bonne get the game time he is wanting? Would another player see his game time limited or even - could we see a departure this week? Realistically, there isn’t going to be too much more movement this week. Ian Evatt has built a settled side and didn’t need to recruit several new signings this window as opposed to recent seasons. There’s always the possibility of seeing one or two more come through the door given Evatt’s comments about being offered players after the Villa game, though will Bonne be one? We’ll have to wait and see.

Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images He is a sexy footballer isn’t he? In my view there were a number of really strong performances against an expensively assembled Aston Villa team boasting some big names and talented players. Bolton Wanderers more than held their own for 45 minutes, and were somewhat unfortunate not to be ahead at the break. However, for me one man stood out and that is Kieran Lee. I can only think of one time in the game where he received the ball and his touch let him down, every other time he controlled the flow of the game around him. He simply oozed class, the kind of class which frankly it is remarkable we managed to bring to League Two. Lee’s stand out moment is of course a wonderful assist. He combined with Dapo Afolayan to win the ball on the edge of the box before proceeding to embarrass Callum Chambers with some quick feet and superbly feed Dion Charles. Truely glorious football. The other moment which stood out the me was a perfect tackle late in the game deep inside the Bolton penalty area. For a man supposed to be lacking the energy and legs of his younger colleagues it was a simply exceptional interception. More performances like this and Lee will be a key man as Bolton look to consolidate themselves at the top end of League One.

The boys showing their togetherness | Photo by Paul Greenwood - CameraSport via Getty Images DTMR Tom returns! It seems already as though this weekend’s fixture against Sheffield Wednesday will be an indicator of how far both clubs can go this season. Wednesday, many people’s favourites to go up automatically after the heartbreak of a playoff semi-final defeat last year, have started the season well. Tuesday’s loss to Peterborough will be a tough one to take for a side with big expectations. They’ll be hoping to bounce back with a statement victory. Wanderers have had a similarly impressive start. A gritty draw at Ipswich set the tone, but the walloping of Wycombe already has many fans dreaming of bigger and better this year. With just one goal conceded in the league so far, the White Army can dare to dream. Tuesday’s win over Morecambe was exactly the sort of game where points were dropped last year - an inferior opponent sitting back and daring us to draw a blank. But we ground out a win and three points. Another home win this weekend, and the Bright Side of the Road seems one step closer. So do it. Dream big. Allow yourself to imagine a future where Bolton Wanderers are back in the ascendancy. Dream - because you lived the nightmare. Music is one of the few things on this earth that transports you to another time and another place. Van Morrison’s Bright Side of the Road will always remind me of that scorching day at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in 2001. Farrelly. Ricketts. Gardner. The Premier League once more. It also reminds me of getting blind drunk in 2017 after another 3-0 win, this time over Peterborough to ensure another promotion to the Championship in 2017. Walking down the middle of the road, belting out every line in the wee hours of the morning. At the end of the day, that’s what football fandom is all about. Those rare, beautiful days where the world is a better place because your team is the best thing that ever happened to it. But that song is also a reminder to me of what we’ve suffered as a fan base. We’ve walked the Dark End of the Street. Jim White and Sky Sports counting down the minutes to our demise. Failing to fulfill League fixtures as senior players went on strike. Ken Anderson. Keith Hill. League Two. The trapdoor of existence. Just look at us now. Not only are we still here, we’re thriving. Sharon Brittan. Ian Evatt. A thriving Fanzone before the match. Scintillating football on the pitch. The buzz is back. It’s going to be a hell of a ride - let’s enjoy it while we can. Wednesday always travel in outstanding numbers. Over 21,000 fans are expected to descend on the UniBol, all of them expecting a barnstormer. It’s time to start dreaming of what this club can be. Let’s do our bit from the sidelines. Life is pretty shite for almost all of us at the minute. Let Ian Evatt’s team fleetingly help us forget about it all with 90 minutes of League One football. Who knows, maybe I’ll be listening to Van Morrison once again come the season’s end?

Photo by Rich Linley - CameraSport via Getty Images After Bolton’s tough afternoon’s work away in Burslem, Liam considers a couple of the standout Wanderers performances Yesterday’s game at Port Vale was a tough one to judge. A case could be made for several Bolton players as I would say each of them dug in and played their part after the first-half red card awarded to Ricardo Santos. Given these difficult circumstances, of course exacerbated by the hellish-like weather and size of the Vale Park pitch, I think Bolton can be pleased their efforts were rewarded with an away point. After the chaos at the end of the first half and the break that followed, Bolton needed to rebalance their shape and after being cast-off into the stands, Ian Evatt introduced defender Will Aimson into the fray. In difficult conditions, Aimson added a bit of bite to the Wanderers defence. His ball winning abilities and prowess in the air became more important as Bolton’s defensive line naturally shifted backwards as the second half progressed. The former Plymouth centre-back played a big part in securing the point for Bolton and with suspension meaning Santos will miss Tuesday’s game with Morecambe, Aimson may get another chance to show why he is deserving of a starting position in the Wanderers back three. For me, the man of the match had to be James Trafford with the Manchester City loanee showing once again why Bolton wanted to bring him back to BL6. Trafford made several eye-catching saves, the most eye-catching of all being a smart save down to his left from an Ellis Harrison effort. However, it was Trafford’s calmness which impressed the most. Whilst Bolton were under pressure for large periods of the second half, a dominating Trafford won all you would expect from him and it meant that whilst Vale were on top, you never sensed there was an inevitability they would score. > An outstanding save from @Jamestrafford6! > > Watch back save from the 'GoalCam'. pic.twitter.com/sSDd6QyuYs > > — Bolton Wanderers (@OfficialBWFC) August 14, 2022

Photo by Dave Howarth - CameraSport via Getty Images Wanderers head to Stoke to take on Port Vale We head to Vale Park in rude health, after 8 goals and just one conceded in a week of conviviality at the UniBol. The only question mark hovers over young midfielder George Thomason, who was rather harshly sent off in the dying embers of the game on Tuesday evening, a red card Ian Evatt has confirmed that we will appeal, given that George only went in one footed and seemed to win the ball. We’ve won the last three appeals for red cards, so I hope to see a similar outcome. He would only have commanded a place on the bench anyhow, and it is the area we are most stacked in too. I am also unsure as to when any potential suspension would kick in and for which games it would apply to. Barring the recovering Josh Sheehan, Lloyd Isgrove, Eoin Toal and striker Dion Charles, there are no more injuries to contend with, although Declan John’s poor showing at left wing-back, leading to his HT withdrawal, was put down to a bout of illness. Whether he recovers in time or not, I can’t see Evatt looking past Jack Iredale for that role anyway, given his performance in that match and the added solidity he gives us there. Vale have boosted their squad and their main positions of need in the past 24 hours with the smart signings of Ellis Harrison, having worked with Darrell Clarke before at Gas, and of Jack Stevens, who you assume will come in for Aidan Stone in goal. All things, including most peoples acca’s, point to a win on the EFL’s largest pitch. But football doesn’t bloody work like that… No prediction from me. Too nervous that we will balls up our good work against a side that led 6-1 after an hour on our patch on 1/12/2020, albeit both teams were under very different guises. COYWM!!

Photo by Mike Morese/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images Lee rates the players after their convincing League Cup win Joel Dixon 7.5 It is comforting that should an injury beset James Trafford, that at least Dixon has returned to a semblance of form. His performance was composed and he played the sweeper keeper role to perfection, as The Ammies looked to spring in behind as often as they could to penetrate our high line in the first half. This tactic yielded early results in Brandon Thomas-Asante’s goal, as the visitors looked to take advantage of a distinctly off colour (and later to be confirmed as suffering with illness by Ian Evatt) Declan John. He was blameless with the goal, as a slight nick on Asante’s shot took it right into the side netting of his goal and he made the most of his opportunity with a couple of eye catching saves. Good to see his confidence has returned, as he was nowhere near as bad as some were making out when he came out of the side, albeit it was still clearly the correct call from Evatt, given the air of calm and authority Trafford gives our backline. Gethin Jones 7.5 Steady-as-you-go again from our Mr Consistent. Captain for the night, Geth dovetailed well with Kieran Sadlier all evening, making some lung-busting recoveries when our offside trap was breached. Our win ratio with him in the side is reaching abnormal proportions now, and he is a real figurehead for the club now. Just seems to get the job done and exudes calmness and unfussy capability. Top man. Will Aimson 7 One who certainly got better as the night progressed, like much of the team. Some wayward (not aimless, but very Aimson like!) passing in the first half an hour was indicative of the sloppy start we made. His influence grew, however, and he dealt well with target man Matt Smith, getting the better of him by the end of the encounter. Our Will is clearly not a star of the side, but is one that Evatt alludes to when talking about keeping the rest of the squad happy and in a frame of mind to come in and do a good job for the team when they are required. Promotions can be won and lost on the strength of a squad. Aimson rarely lets us down over a ninety minutes in that respect, despite a hairy moment or two in most of his appearances! George Johnston 7 Being ultra picky, he could’ve engaged quicker with Asante for the goal, instead of back pedalling, once he had got into a position to challenge the Salford speedster. His game on the whole, though, was his usual mix of calm and steady, with measured and accurate passing to move us up the field and a nice link-up with Jack Iredale in the second half. He’s a mainstay of the side now and his consistency is becoming encouraging. Kieran Sadlier 8 There was just one moment in the first half which encapsulated why I still have slight concerns over his capabilities to play the wing-back role. There looked to be a foul that should’ve been given our way towards the right touchline midway through the first half. It wasn’t given, and instead of getting on with play, Sadlier paused to throw his arms up in protest. In that split-second, he allowed his man to receive a one-two and race away down the flank. To his credit, he caught up pretty well and slowed the move down. No harm done. But if Evatt spotted this, he’ll want to stamp out any potential for this kind of thing to become a consistent occurrence. A better player in a better team would probably have punished that momentary lapse in concentration. I hate nit-picking after a 5-1 win, I really do, especially as the mercurial Irishman played a huge part, in the second half especially.His tricky wing play, pinpoint imaginative passing and of course, his goal, well struck but with a heavy deflection that proved pivotal in sending it past Tom King, all helped contribute to a huge team effort to turn a game that looked like a potential banana-skin, into something much more enjoyable for all at the UniBol. But Evatt will know that it is on these fine margins that games are often decided, and I just hope that when he does fill in for Bradley at RWB, that he can remain switched on and focused at all times I think his best position would be as the No.10 in certain games, where we might encounter a low block. He’s probably the best striker of a ball, dead or moving, at the club, and that ability, allied to his vision, means he could unpick many a lock for us this season. MJ Williams 7.5 It speaks volumes for MJ’s place in the managers thoughts that he sees him as a non-negotiable starter for a game like this. His durability and consistency in the team is such an important asset for any successful side. The defenders know they can trust him to cover diligently for them if they step out, while the free 8’s that Evatt has deployed at the start of this season are safe in the knowledge that if they maraud forward, they won’t be leaving gaping holes for the opposition to exploit centrally, if the move breaks down. Alongside Gethin and Rico, he’s the bedrock of our side and put in another display here that befitted that status. George Thomason 7 The soft red card unfortunately tainted a quietly impressive evenings work for the young grafter, who’s passing was on point and always forward thinking. He has noticeably bulked up and can compete more readily in physical battles in the middle of the park. Once he earns the right to play, he has that weight of pass that can help unlock defences, while always doing the work that the team needs. Hopefully the suspension won’t materialise if the 4th red card we’ve appealed against in recent seasons ends in a 4th reprieval. I’m glad that Evatt has persevered in using him as much as he can, in a position that is stacked with quality and quantity. Declan John 5 The admission from the gaffer that he was under the weather puts his performance in a different light, and he is to be applauded for trying to battle through the effects of whatever he was suffering from. It does seems unnecessary for Evatt to have risked him, though, given Jack Iredale’s availability and the emergence of young Max Conway in this position, too. He was way off the pace and couldn’t handle the combination of Asante and Luke Bolton in that worrying first 20-25 minutes. The difference in our solidity in the second half was marked. To my eyes, it could be Iredale’s position to lose now, although Evatt has suggested in summer interviews that he sees this position in the team especially as one for a horses-for-courses approach. Get well soon, Dec! Kieran Lee 9 This was the golden touch’ed one at his imperious best. Always available for a pass, always looking to create or find a teammate in a better position than himself. Just the epitome of a team player who constantly thinks of the greater good. His work rate to win the ball back in Salford’s area and his pinpoint lifted cross that was begging Elias Kachunga to bury was superb. His part in the Afolayan goal was the kind of understated excellence from this beautiful footballer we have come to know and cherish. I sincerely hope he just really loves his football and keeps signing extensions with us until his late 30’s, as there’ll always be a place for a player like him. The first half a yard is very much in his brain, as they say, and he adds a real calm authority to the side when he is picked. A joy. Elias Kachunga 8.5 Was this his best game in a white shirt? It’s certainly a close call between this and Cheltenham at home last season. His goal seemed to spark something in him (editor; that’ll be this thing called confidence!) and his sharp turn and quick feet to pull away from his marker, providing the 30th pass of a patient, probing move involving all 11 players, in laying it on a plate for JDB to sweep home was great to see. A real workhorse performance from Elias and it’s just fantastic to see so many ‘fringe’ players showing good form and a real desire to give the manager a firm nudge that they are very much an option for him in the more serious business of league matters. Jon Dadi Bodvarsson 9 I just seriously love this guy. To come back from being disparaged as one of Millwall’s worst ever players to what he is showing in pretty much every game he plays is truly a superb effort from him, Evatt and the coaching staff. From smart touches in the build-up, to deft flick on’s and rangy strides, powering at defences, JDB has pulled at my heart strings. When we signed him I really thought, having not intently watched him in the past, that he would be simply a plan B for when ‘Brand Evatt’ was failing to hit the mark. That he fits in beautifully with plan A too, and acts as that focal point and aerial threat into the bargain, well, that was beyond my wildest dreams in regards to how he could fit in and thrive with us. Get him a new deal ASAP, as he’s another who I feel could play on and on now he looks to have found his spiritual home and may still have room for development. Look at Gudni, Jussi, Per & Eidur ; they’re like fine wines these Scandinavians and I personally want to see JDB in a Bolton shirt for a lot longer than till the end of this season, when his current contract expires. ### **Subs:** Jack Iredale 8.5 Instantly shored us up at the back and played a big part in the all-important third goal, hitting a perhaps fortuitous cross-field ball that finally reached Sadlier to blast home. His movement to get away from the defender before the cross was lovely (for a big man!) and he just has a presence that Dec doesn’t. Looks a superb signing, yet again, from Evatt, Markham & co. Dapo Afolayan 8 Nice little cameo for Dapo, that I felt was a bit of a risk not worth taking at the time by Evatt. Took his goal well and survived Luke Bolton’s crude attempts to send him back down the tunnel before the match ended, thank god. Good for him to get off the mark in competitive games. Conor Bradley 8 Good Lord, what a player we have on our hands here. That strike was as true as you’ll see this season, and although a bit close to King in the Salford net, the power just beat him all ends up. So excited to see what he can do in the next few months as we strive to establish ourselves in the top echelons of this division. Lamine Toure and Nelson Khumbeni n/a Not sure Toure touched it more than once but a lovely moment for the lad to make his debut after, I think, about 8 or 9 years with the club. Looks athletic and a real prospect. Khumbeni looked bright in his cameo, and he would be arguably the most likely to break through with his position as a midfield holder and the obvious lack of a midfield enforcer should MJ be absent. Having this layer of hungry, young professionals beneath the first team feels progressive and the right way to go about things. Let’s hope that some can break through and add to the already impressive depth that Evatt & co have built over their time with us.