Lincoln City’s promotion hopes have taken a huge boost, with a Swiss striker being declared fit to play in Devon.
While we have to go out and do the business against Wimbledon, all eyes will be on Plymouth Argyle and Bolton Wanderers, as well as Stockport County and Wycombe Wanderers. Any points dropped by those two will help our cause, with Plymouth a side bang in form.
Tom Cleverley is sure to rival Michael Skubala for Manager of the Month in March, and he has done so without 17-goal Lorent Tolaj. Tolaj missed the game against City, and he’s been a shining light for the Pilgrims, who have sailed up the division since Christmas.
Top scorer Tolaj is available again after missing the last seven league matches with a leg injury. The striker’s return is a significant boost ahead of facing one of the division’s top sides. Head coach Cleverley confirmed that Tolaj has been training for over a week and will be available for selection, although he admitted the striker’s minutes will need to be managed carefully across the Easter fixtures.
“Obviously, we have to be careful whether we use him from the start on Friday and then not Monday, or use him for some of Friday and then start Monday. It’s highly unlikely he starts both games coming back.”
“We will be smart with that. Bolton are a team that really like to go for it in the last 20 minutes, you can see that by how many goals they have scored late on, so it could be a game that it would be nice to have Tolly for the last half-an-hour in.”
He’s not the only player coming back looking to torment Bolton, who announced almost £14m in losses for the 2024/25 season this week. Caleb Watts is also back in contention after missing recent matches with a calf problem, while on-loan midfielder Herbie Kane returns to the squad after being ineligible to face his parent club, Huddersfield Town, before the international break.
There are still some fitness concerns for Argyle, with defender Brendan Galloway a late decision due to discomfort following his recovery from hernia surgery, while Julio Pleguezuelo is back in training but will be reintroduced gradually after his own injury issues.
With Alex Mitchell leading the back line, and the powerful Bim Pepple in the squad, hopefully they can get a result against a Bolton side that have been on the ropes in recent weeks. We’re all Argyle this weekend, aren’t we?