Next Up: Exeter City vs Bolton Wanderers

City produced a creditable display in ultimately going down 2-1 at high-flying Peterborough last Saturday, but that defeat has made it one point from four games and has threatened to drag City back towards the bottom four. Reece Cole will serve the second of his two-match suspension, while Jack Aitchison has remained sidelined, a situation which gave City’s travelling supporters a chance to see Millenic Alli in action from the bench for the first time. Elsewhere Gary Caldwell has a lot of options to choose from with perhaps a more important fixture coming up on Tuesday night and Saturday’s fixture essentially a bit more of a “free pass”, meaning he may opt to leave some players on the bench with a view to starting them at Shrewsbury.

Installed amongst the promotion favourites as they continue their recovery from the off-field woes that led to their fall from the Premier League to League Two, Bolton have put themselves in a great position to return to the second tier in May. Ian Evatt has overseen this recovery by being astute in the transfer market, having the ability to sign players like Aaron Collins, who was involved in more goals (either scoring or assisting) than any other player in League One last season. Fixture congestion has been a big issue for the Trotters, however, with Bolton having played four successive two-match weeks, up to and including the 2-2 draw at promotion rivals Barnsley on Tuesday night that saw former City player Randell Williams scoring a last minute equaliser. Bolton, as part of the full programme of fixtures this coming Tuesday, face another high-flier in Oxford, meaning they may look to rest some of their key players for the “easier” fixture in the current schedule. Dion Charles, with 17 goals in all competitions, remains the focal point of Bolton’s attack, while Victor Adeboyejo has also hit double figures in the league. Williams will hope to start, and perhaps dust off his elaborate goal celebration, in front of the fans that enjoyed his spell in red and white.

The less said about the reverse fixture the better. At the height of City’s dismal form in November Bolton ran riot, inflicting a 7-0 humiliation with six different scorers – Iredale, Adeboyejo, Maghoma, two from Charles, Dempsey and N’Lundulu. It was altogether a tighter affair at SJP on Good Friday last season, a solitary strike from Bradley sealing a 1-0 win for Bolton, who now lead 8-3 in league head to heads, four matches finishing level.

The match officials for this game will be:-

Referee: Daniel Middleton
Assistant Referees: Sam Ogles and Richard Morris
Fourth Official : James Durkin

Just the one game in charge of Exeter for Daniel Middleton, which was the 3-0 defeat away to Oxford United in Spetember.

Pre-match interview with Gary, Abbie and Aaron discussing Bolton and Maidenhead.