The fixture computer hasn’t been particularly kind to City, with two of the first three matches coming against sides tipped to be battling it out at the top, and that run of unkind fixtures continues on Saturday with a visit to the scene of an absolute humiliation last season. The performance against Peterborough gave cause for optimism generally, but for the third successive match (including the EFL Cup defeat at Walsall) City have failed to hold on to a winning position, something that Gary Caldwell will be keen to address.
In terms of personnel Caldwell still has plenty at his disposal aside from those known to be carrying knocks, so there may not be many changes for the trip to Bolton. Notably Jack Fitzwater and Cheick Diabate featured as overage players in the U21 Cup win at Bromley on Tuesday night, a sign they may not be under consideration – with Diabate rumoured to be about to leave the club those who made the trip to Bromley may have seen his final appearance in the red and white.
The new boy, Amani Richards on loan from Leicester City is likely to feature at some point during the game.
As one of the more well-resourced sides in the division, Bolton have been tipped by many as amongst the favourites to escape the third tier at the fourth attempt, but it has been a mixed start for Ian Evatt’s side with a win, a draw and a defeat so far. Their last league match saw them lose 2-0 at fast-starting Charlton, but they did register a 2-0 win in the EFL Cup 2nd round at Shrewsbury on Tuesday night. Amongst their summer signings was John McAtee, who scored 15 goals on loan at Barnsley last season, while Klaidi Lolos, signed from Crawley after 15 goals in their League Two promotion season, has undergone a redemption arc after Gary Johnson’s public humiliation of him while he was at Torquay. Dion Charles, though, remains the main goal threat while Randell Williams will hope to feature against his former side although his only appearance to date has been in the first round of the EFL Cup.
City players and supporters alike will still be waking up in a cold sweat after last season’s tip to Bolton at the height of the dreadful run that saw many (including your writer) calling for Caldwell’s head. There was little sign of things to come in the first half hour, but goals before half time by Iredale and Adeboyejo seemed to open the floodgates – Maghoma, Charles (2), Dempsey and Nlundulu taking advantage of a generous City defence to rattle seven goals past Vil Sinisalo. There was redemption of sorts at the Park in March – Bolton again led at the break through Maghoma but a pair of Sonny Cox thunderbolts immediately after the restart gave City the lead before Bolton snatched an equaliser through Toal late on. Bolton have the lead in league head to heads with eight wins to City’s three, five matches finishing level.
The match officials for this game will be:-
Referee: Ben Toner
Assistant Referees: Kevin Mulraine and Lewis Raper
Fourth Official : John Mulligan
Ben Toner has taken charge of an Exeter City game on numerous occasions, with the last being last September when City lost at home to Leyton Orient 2-1.
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Pre-match interview with Gary Caldwell
Pre-match interview with Ed Francis
The thoughts of Bolton’s manager Ian Evatt
Exeter have lost their last two games by a single goal after kicking off their league season with a home win over Rotherham United.
The Grecians were beaten 7-0 at Wanderers last season as the Whites racked up their biggest home win for 33 years.
Evatt isn’t expecting a repeat but does want his side to show their home strength in front of another 20,000-plus crowd on ‘Community Day’ to bounce back further from loss at Charlton a week ago in their final league game before the international break.
“I don’t think it’s going to be the same as last year for certain,” he told Wanderers TV. “They have started pretty well and been involved in some really close games against some good opponents.
“We know it’s going to be tough but if we can step forward again from what we showed on Tuesday, which was very positive, hopefully we can get all three points.
“But it’s really on us to execute our good performance and, if we can, then we know we can make things difficult here.”
