City will close out this year’s Easter Weekend by hosting playoff-chasing Bolton Wanderers in the penultimate league fixture at Sincil Bank this season, hoping to extend their unbeaten run to five matches.
Bolton Wanderers Form
After a home draw against Wrexham, the Trotters faced a challenging stretch, losing their next three league matches: one against Charlton in London, followed by defeats to Huddersfield and Exeter at the Toughsheet. This poor run of form led many Bolton fans to call for Ian Evatt’s dismissal, but the Manchester outfit soon returned to winning ways.
Bolton collected ten points from their next 12 available, including victories over Reading and Northampton, propelling them back into the top six of the league table. Impressive wins against Stevenage away and Peterborough at home put the team back on track. However, they soon encountered another difficult period. A heavy 5-0 defeat to Stockport, coupled with dropped points against Cambridge and their arch-rivals Wigan, saw the Trotters fall out of the playoff positions. A 2-1 defeat to Charlton at home was the final straw for Ian Evatt, and he was relieved of his duties as Bolton manager towards the end of January.
It didn’t take long for the Trotters for find Evatt’s replacement, as Steven Schumacher, who won the League One title with Plymouth Argyle in the 22/23 season, was hired on a three-and-a-half year deal during the middle of February. Schumacher’s first game in charge was a cracker, a 4-3 victory at home to Crawley Town, which kickstarted a good run of form for the Trotters. However, ever since the appointment of the new head coach, Bolton have been very inconsistent. Recently, Bolton have lost three on the bounce, picked up back-to-back wins, beat champions Birmingham and lost to Barnsley, who were without a win in seven games. Bolton have had a rollercoaster season, and if they were to realistically keep it alive, they would need to win at a close to sold-out Sincil Bank today in a game that promises to a corker.
Team News
Ethan Erhahon made his return from injury for Lincoln on Good Friday, but Tom Bayliss had to be substituted just after the hour mark due to an apparent issue and could be sidelined for Monday’s match. If he’s unable to feature, he would join Jack Moylan and Bailey Cadamarteri on the list of absentees.
Meanwhile, Bolton’s Jordi Osei-Tutu, who was forced off injured just 18 minutes into the clash against Wycombe, may find himself joining Victor Adeboyejo, Eoin Toal, Will Forrester, Szabolcs Schon, Aaron Morley, and Josh Sheehan on the sidelines. Aaron Collins, who found the net in the 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture, will look to add to his tally of 12 League One goals this season, while his teammate John McAtee hopes to build on his current total of 11 league goals.
Match Referee
REFEREE: JACOB MILES
Linesmen: Adam Burgess and Stephen Wade
Fourth Official: Andrew Miller
Miles will travel to the Sincil Bank for his 25th fixture of the campaign, with 13 of his matches taking place in Sky Bet League One. In addition to this, he has also taken charge of eleven fixtures in Sky Bet League Two, and one fixture in the EFL Cup. In his previous fixtures this campaign, Miles has shown 98 yellow cards, three red cards, and pointed to the penalty spot on four occasions.
Jacob Miles has refereed one Lincoln game this season, a 1-0 defeat to Wrexham at the Racecourse back in October.
Previous Meetings
Lincoln City unfortunately have a dismal time whenever Bolton come to town. The Imps have lost six of their last seven league games against the Wanderers, with the other one being a draw. City have also failed to score in five of those matches, so if you are Imp that believes in bogey teams, you’ll be preparing for the worst in this one!
However, Lincoln are unbeaten across their last five Football League games played on Easter Monday, so hopefully our bad record against Bolton Wanderers and good record on Easter Monday balances out so we can have a scintillating Sincil Bank encounter!
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