West Brom vs Bolton Wanderers - Match Preview

Bolton's 5-0 redemption victory against Stoke before the international break, confidence may be brewing for the Trotters however West Brom would've been glad to see the break approach after suffering two defeats on the bounce before today's fixture. The Baggies have had a very mixed bag of results this season. They've not had a chance to really get going to gain a good string of results as of yet, with their best run coming in the two Midlands derbies with victories over Aston Villa and Wolves before once again returning to losing ways against Hodgson's former team Liverpool and an in-form Arsenal. This fixture is also the first which West Brom will encounter without their assistant coach Michael Appleton, who left to take the managers post at Portsmouth. Hodgson seems fairly blasé about losing part of his backroom staff though, claiming he's in no rush to find a replacement. For Bolton, the emphatic win against Stoke was a relief for Owen Coyle and his job safety after such a bad run of form which led to them propping up the rest of the table in the relegation places. Even though they still remain in 19th place, they could leap up as far as 11th if results go their way. One concern for Coyle's team has been their defence. The back line has been leaking goals and performing generally under par but their front line have been far from goal shy. Ivan Klasnic has been in good scoring form with five goals to his name and bagging a brace in their last fixture. Chris Eagles has also re-adapted to life in the Premier League well, giving four assists and three goals so far this term plus you can never discount the talent and experience of Kevin Davies.

Team News

Peter Odemwingie and Shane Long are both doubtful to start for the Baggies after not quite recovering in time from their knee injuries, so Simon Cox may retain his lone role up front. Paul Scharner is also out with a knee injury. Bolton have the most injury struck team in the Premier League at the moment, mainly due to the long term injuries to Tyrone Mears (broken leg), Lee Chung-Yong (broken leg) and Stuart Holden (knee). Joining them on the list are defenders Mikel Alonso (ankle/foot), Ricardo Gardner (hip/thigh), Dedryck Boyata (ankle/foot), Sam Ricketts (calf/shin) and midfielder Sean Davis.

Lineups from;

West Brom (from): Foster, Mattock, Olsson, Tchoyi, Morrison, Brunt, Reid, Fulop, Thomas, Dorrans, Shorey, Mulumbu, Gera, McAuley, Dawson, Hurst, Mantom, Jones, Thorne, Tamas, Cox, Fortune, Sawyers, Nabi, Brown, Roofe, O'Neil, Elford-Alliyu, Gayle, Bednar. Bolton (from): Bogdan, Steinsson, Alonso, Robinson, Cahill, Muamba, Eagles, Tuncay, Petrov, Knight, Kevin Davies, Mark Davies, Klasnic, Reo-Coker, Blake, Pratley, Jaaskelainen, N'Gog, Lainton, Kakuta, Wheater, Connolly, Eaves, O'Halloran, Vela, Blakeman, Riley. Prediction: 1 - 1 - despite Bolton's 5-0 win against Stoke, the international break may deflate the confidence gained from the win and also take away any lack of confidence West Brom might've gathered, all roads lead to a stalemate.