Preview: Bolton v City

Just a few days ago most Blues were probably looking at the upcoming fixtures from behind a cushion. The short trip to Horwich to play Lancy rivals Bolton Wanderers is the third of four extremely tricky fixtures which according to some journos would most probably mark the end of Mark Hughes's tenure at City. As it goes we've done alright during the first two of those, and given Saturday's opponents currently sitting in the bottom three and not having the best of times of late, we should be hoping for a third win on the bounce.

Wayne Bridge will of course be missing, ruled out for anywhere between three and eight weeks depending which source you happen to trust. Either Sylvinho, Gareth Barry, Nedum Onuoha or Vincent Kompany will take his place. Micah Richards, extremely impressive last weekend, should shake off a knee injury. Stephen Ireland and Craig Bellamy should make the squad at least, as may the Welshman's fellow swine flu victim, Vlad Weiss. Michael Johnson's ligament injury obviously rules him out.

Bolton are set to be light of a few squad players; centre-half Danny Shittu, winger Mustapha Riga, and long-term absentees Sean Davis and Joey O'Brien. Elbowy forward Kevin Davies returns from a one-match suspension, and England u21 workhorse Fabrice Muamba could earn a recall after starting the last two games on the bench.

Whilst the tipsters might be pointing towards an away win, we all know Bolton can be an extremely difficult place to go for anyone. Over the recent past our record at the Reebok has been relatively good for what have generally been uneventful and forgettable games between two mid-table sides. Stakes upped, however, it has to be one of a number of grounds we now go to expecting nothing less than three points.

As it goes, i do think Wanderers get an undue amount of bad press. Yes, Kevin Davies can push his luck, but under Gary Megson they do play some nice football now and again, contrary to popular belief. They've won three games all season, that can't be argued against, but at the Reebok they're at least attempting to knock it about a bit, which is perhaps going against them. Israeli midfielder Tamir Cohen especially looks like an extremely tidy player.

Given that we'll have to cope with a certain amount of aerial bombardment (as you expect, Davies is good at what he does) we're unlikely to see a classic. The vastly improved Joleon Lescott will have to be on his toes, both in terms of helping keep Davies quiet and keeping his new colleague to his left in check, but i think the damage will more-than-likely be done at the other end of the pitch.

In recent weeks Bolton's defence has been a shambles, not least when conceding thirteen goals in three games in just over a week around the turn of the month. Even with Gary Cahill, who was one of the better centre-halves in the entire division last year, they've gone to pot. I fancy we'll get chances, and providing we can keep good possession then Bellamy, Tevez and SWP should all be able to make their mark on the game.

Given some of Bolton's play will involve them playing to their main strength, the awkward ratter Davies, i'd be tempted to bring Stevie Ireland back in to make the most of our opportunities on the break. Games like this are made for him, and providing we can steer clear of silly errors at the back we should be able to hurt them more than they can us; we're better with and without the ball, quicker, have more match-winners and providing we don't get dragged in to a real battle we should win.

Possible teams:
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Samuel, O'Brien, Cahill, Muamba, Taylor, McCann, Cohen, Davies, Gardner

City: Given, Richards, Barry, Toure, Lescott, de Jong, Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Tevez, Adebayor, Bellamy

Prediction: Bolton 1 City 2