In their first outing following the departure of Ian Evatt, Bolton Wanderers will travel the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday to take on Huddersfield Town.
The visitors begin life without their long-serving boss in ninth spot in the League One table, three points outside of the playoff places, while their hosts trail the automatic promotion spots by six points.
Match preview
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Huddersfield Town head into the weekend aiming to get back to winning ways in their League One automatic promotion bid, having lost ground last weekend in the midst of a fine run of form.
After sitting on just 12 points from their first nine games in their first season back in England's third tier under the new management of Michael Duff, the Terriers have built a 16-game unbeaten run to move into the top-two fight, winning 10 of those and only conceding 10 goals along the way.
Then heading into the new year with 43 points on the board from 22 outings, Duff's men have had to settle for draws in two of their last three attempts, firstly sharing the spoils in a goalless stalemate at home to Rotherham United before heading to fellow promotion-chasers Wycombe Wanderers and managing a crucial 1-0 win thanks to Herbie Kane's early goal.
The West Yorkshire outfit then made the trip across to Blackpool last Saturday, and after trailing 2-0 at the interval, they were at least able to leave with a point as Joe Taylor and Brodie Spencer drew them level early in the second half.
With the top two both having won last time out, Huddersfield Town now sit fourth and trail the automatic promotion spots by six points, albeit with a game in hand on second-placed Wycombe Wanderers, and they will be keen to cut that gap with a home victory on Saturday.
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In their way stand a Bolton Wanderers side who head into action without Ian Evatt at the helm for the first time since the end of the 2019-20 season, following a disappointing first half to the campaign.
After falling short in the playoffs in each of their last two attempts, the Trotters set out to make a return to the Championship this time around, but they currently sit ninth having managed 38 points from their first 26 outings.
Indeed, in their last nine third-tier games, the Lancashire outfit have managed just two victories and eight points, with their most recent win coming away at Exeter City early in the new year, and they failed to build on that triumph, then suffering a 3-1 defeat to Rotherham United before snatching a point from a 2-2 draw at home to basement side Cambridge United last weekend.
Charlton Athletic then visited the Toughsheet Community Stadium on Tuesday, and a 2-1 defeat spelled the end of Evatt's tenure, as the Trotters led through Joel Randall until the 70th minute, only for Lloyd Jones and Karoy Anderson to turn the game on its head and condemn the hosts to a 10th league defeat of the campaign, more than they suffered in the entire 2023-24 term prior to the playoffs.
Now under the temporary stewardship of Julian Darby, Andy Taylor and Andrew Tutte, and still only trailing the playoffs by three points despite their disappointing campaign thus far, Bolton Wanderers will hope to kickstart a turnaround and climb into the top six by ending the hosts' 16-match unbeaten streak on Saturday.
Team News
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Michael Duff will field a similar Huddersfield Town starting XI to last week's draw with Blackpool, as David Kasumu, Danny Ward and Lasse Sorensen remain sidelined with injuries, although their concerns have eased recently with the returns of Jonathan Hogg, Antony Evans, Lee Nicholls and Rhys Healey.
January arrivals Dion Charles, who joined from Bolton for whom he scored 57 goals in 149 games including seven in League One this term, and Joe Taylor both earned full debuts in attack in that game, with the latter getting on the scoresheet, and they should continue their partnership despite competition from Callum Marshall and Healey.
Elsewhere, Hogg and Evans will both push for midfield starts after Herbie Kane, Joe Hodge and Ben Wiles got the nod at Bloomfield Road, while Jacob Chapman will continue between the sticks despite the return of Nicholls.
Bolton Wanderers could remain without defenders Eoin Toal, Ricardo Santos and Chris Forino, all of whom missed the Charlton Athletic defeat through injury, meaning Josh Dacres-Cogley and George Johnston should again join Will Forrester in a back three.
There is still competition in attack, despite the January exit of Charles to Huddersfield, and after netting his first goal for the club in midweek, Joel Randall should again get the nod over Victor Adeboyejo, John McAtee and Klaidi Lolos in support of Aaron Collins.
Jay Matete will push to come into the midfield, but the trio of temporary managers may stick with George Thomason, Josh Sheehan and Aaron Morley, who returned at the beginning of January after impressing on loan with promotion-chasing Wycombe Wanderers.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Chapman; Pearson, Lees, Spencer; Turton, Wiles, Kane, Evans, Koroma; Charles, Taylor
Bolton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Southwood; Dacres-Cogley, Forrester, Johnston; Osei-Tutu, Morley, Sheehan, Thomason, Schon; Collins, Randall
We say: Huddersfield Town 2-1 Bolton Wanderers
We are yet to see how Bolton Wanderers will react without Ian Evatt at the helm, but they face a particularly tough test against the division's longest unbeaten streak, and we back Huddersfield Town to take all three points on home turf at the weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
