Despite what their fans sang in 2018 when we were on the verge of relegation, we are playing Bolton again. Relatively speaking, we haven't played Bolton loads in our history (41 times). We have never won at the Macron Stadium, and our last victory at their old ground was 10 visits ago, a 3-2 win on the final day of the 93/94 season. We've only won away at Bolton 3 times in our history, the first of which was during our cup run of 1912. In terms of form, Bolton have lost just 1 of their last 13 at home, albeit most of it was in league 2. They started the season with a 3-3 draw at home to MK Dons. Our away form is very similar, as we've lost 2 of our last 12, and these were in a dead rubber game with Preston, and our annual defeat away at Coventry. In terms of team, it's difficult to predict what side we will put out. Palmer may be rested if he picked up a knock at the weekend, and Iseka and/or Oulare may get an hour to try and build up their match sharpness. I anticipate a good season for Bolton, as I feel Ian Evatt is a good young manager. However I feel that if we go with a fairly strong side, we'll have too much for them. I'm going for 0-2 with Morris and Woodrow on the score sheet.
1-1, scrape through or bow out on penalties, half the board uses the match as a barometer for the rest of the season (along with the Man City friendly) and goes into meltdown.
As a Barnsley fan I've never, ever been confident in predicting even the result of a game let alone the score or who was going to score the goals. I predict we won't lose 9-0 and that, should we score, Brad Collins won't get one.