Premiership side Bolton Wanderers will be the visitors to Spotland this Friday night as the Trotters kick off their pre-season campaign with a friendly against Keith Hill’s men.
It’s expected that Wanderers will bring a strong side, with the majority of
their first team squad playing in the game. There’ll be much anticipation about
whether Bolton’s wantaway striker El Hadji Diouf will play for the Whites, and
this will no doubt be a game seen as evidence of his departure should he not
play.
We seem to be coming through pre-season relatively unscathed at the moment, with
no goals conceded on English soil, and fitness looking very healthy. Last
Saturday’s hammering of Rossendale was followed up by a useful goalless draw
with Stockport during the week.
There’s bound to be a strong Dale side put out for what will be our final
Spotland friendly before the season starts, and common consensus would suggest
that Tuesday’s starting line up with Keltie in for Toner is the current
favourite to kick off at Grimsby, though there’s plenty of time yet for players
to force their way into that side.
There have been a handful of games between Dale and Bolton over the past twenty
years. The last league meeting between the sides at Spotland saw a 2-2 draw,
just days after the infamous 8-0 defeat at Leyton Orient. Dale had a 2-0 lead
before Bolton clawed their way back, and secured a late minute equaliser in a
game remembered for all the wrong reasons as visiting hooligans ran amok.
We took and beat Bolton in the League Cup back in the late 80’s. The game was
the first leg in round one, with Dale running out 2-1 winners with goals from Micky Holmes and Wayne Goodison. However, it was
all in vain as we suffered a 5-1 hammering in the second leg. More recently,
Wanderers were the visitors to Spotland when Nat Lofthouse opened up the WMG
Stand.
Admission to the game will cost £12 for all seated areas, and £10 for terrace
admission. Concessions are available for £6 in all areas. Kick off is at 7:30pm.