Bolton 0-0 Sheff Weds

Madine is just awful, how many chances will Lennon give him? Dobbie must be a better bet than that stump.

Report: Bolton 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday

IN BRIEF

Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday played out a 0-0 draw at Macron Stadium on Tuesday evening.

During a lively first half, Derik Osede came close to opening the scoring for the hosts with a header from close range, while Ben Amos was forced to make a number of smart saves from close range to keep the visitors at bay.

Wanderers were the stronger side in the second period, with Gary Madine coming close to scoring against his former employers, but the spoils were shared at the final whistle.

TEAM NEWS

Neil Lennon named an unchanged starting XI to the side who turned out for the weekend’s victory over Wolves, with Neil Danns recovering from a head injury sustained against Kenny Jackett’s side to take his place in the team.

For Wednesday however, they boasted the inclusion of former Bolton loanee Barry Bannan who made his second appearances for the Owls following his move from Crystal Palace.

FIRST HALF

Fernando Forestieri was the first to threaten in the clash with him sprinting downfield inside three minutes after a slip by Mark Davies, but the Italian then fell himself with Wanderers able to steer the ball away from their area.

The visitors came within inches of opening the scoring three minutes later as Forestieri whipped a dangerous ball across the face of goal, but Prince somehow managed to clear Bolton’s lines with Marco Matias’ shot being kept out by the Frenchman.

Matias was in the thick of the action soon after as he sprung the Whites’ offside trap, but Ben Amos was on his guard to carefully scoop the ball from the feet of the Portuguese forward.

It was all Sheffield Wednesday in the opening stages, with Wanderers having to be on their toes to silence the Owls’ frontline.

Wellington Silva then enjoyed Bolton’s first real chance of the game, collecting a loose ball just outside the box, but the Brazilian was ultimately dispossessed at the crucial moment.

The chance seemed to give Wanderers something of a boost, with Wednesday forced onto the back foot a little soon after with Derik Osede’s header flying narrowly over the crossbar, arguably taking a coat of paint off on its way.

It was end to end stuff at Macron Stadium, with chances being enjoyed by both teams, with Amos being called upon once again to deny Wednesday’s Kieran Lee from close range.

For Wanderers meanwhile, Wellington tricked his way into the area, only to see his shot from a tight angle take a deflection and trickle wide of the far post.

With five minutes of the half to go, Wellington almost fed Gary Madine, but Joe Wildsmith was out quickly to block the cross with the former Owls striker lurking and ready to pounce.

Both sides pushed as one minute of additional time was indicated, but the first half ended goalless.

SECOND HALF

With no changes for either side at the break, the second half got underway and it was Wednesday who started the stronger with Forestieri somehow poking the ball over the bar when in on goal early on.

Wellington was still proving himself a nuisance for the Wednesday backline however, with the winger snaking his way into the area before eventually shooting narrowly wide of the near post.

Both sides looked cautious on the attack, but a goal looked to be imminent in the 56th minute as Prince hooked a header back into a crowded six yard box, with Madine heading over under pressure.

Frustration was evident from both sides, with each defence standing firm under each passing attack.

It was Bolton in the ascendency though, with the Owls having to defend in their numbers as the home side powered forward and flooded Wednesday’s penalty area.

Clough then attempted to find Madine in a crowded six yard box with a wicked ball into the mix, only to see Wildsmith collect and deny the frontman his first goal for the club.

The academy graduate was however forced to leave the field of play soon after, with Sam Hutchinson receiving a booking for a clumsy challenge on the striker.

Replaced with Stephen Dobbie, the forward enjoyed his first chance soon after but saw his shot from the edge of the box comfortably saved while another flew inches over the goalmouth.

It was all Bolton as the game entered itself final ten minutes, with the introduction of Emile Heskey in place of Madine offering the Whites a different approach upfront inside the latter stages.

Wednesday did threaten on the counter attack on occasion though, with Modou Sougou drilling a shot down the throat of Amos with four minutes to go.

Five minutes of additional time were indicated at the end of the game, with both Wednesday and the Whites throwing men forward, but the clash was all square come the final whistle.

FULL TIME

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Had it with Madine. Might send him the two right footed slippers I got off amazon.

Sod getting a new striker. Replace Feeney who is utter utter shite. Can't wait until Pratley is back and Danns is dropped tho he wasn't as awful as Feeney. Danns is just crap. Bollocks to this 'puts a shift in'. He's a League 1 player. The sooner Feeney and Danns aren't in the starting 11 the sooner we can start looking up!

JAH wrote:The sooner Feeney and Danns aren't in the starting 11 the sooner we can start looking up!

Agree with that, 2 useful squad players but we need better starting. Hopefully Clough is okay.

Doesn't look good for Clough. But the game was awful. The defence looked good- but midfield were absent and there was nothing up top until Dobbie came on. We were bobbins tonight and lucky to get a point.
All that good stuff against Wolves seems to have evaporated

Harsh on Feeney and Danns. Two of our better players tonight. Madine and Clough need to be dropped, although apparently ZC is injured now anyway. He will benefit from a rest

Not a bad result, defence now looks solid we just lack a goalscorer to finish off teams.. Looking forward to huddersfield

NL says clough could miss months. Good job Clayton is back

Sad state of affairs if clough needs a rest after only 7 games. Taking him out of the firing line could be a good thing though I suppose. The lads been hyped up too much and is probably feeling the pressure to perform as he was before his injury last season. Others will know better than me as I wasn't there.

Real shame if he's injured for that length of time though.

What is the injury?

Dislocated shoulder, same shoulder. Long term according to Iles.

Pretty shit that!

bwfc1874 wrote:Dislocated shoulder, same shoulder. Long term according to Iles.

Pretty shit that!

Lightweight ponce.

bwfc1874 wrote:Dislocated shoulder, same shoulder. Long term according to Iles.

Pretty shit that!

That's the second time. Doesn't look like he is strong enough to ever be a regular first team player. Got to agree with Martin unfortunately.

Let's hope Clayton can do the business then. I was looking forward to seeing clough and Clayton on the same pitch. Some things never change. Injury after injury.

xmiles wrote:

bwfc1874 wrote:Dislocated shoulder, same shoulder. Long term according to Iles.

Pretty shit that!

That's the second time. Doesn't look like he is strong enough to ever be a regular first team player. Got to agree with Martin unfortunately.

He's only 20, bit early to write him off. Once you dislocate something once it's prone to happen again, but if they build up the muscle around it - he's got a lot of natural development still to come too - he can help prevent it.

Clough is a little dweeb though, no wonder he gets injured all the time

We were very fortunate to go in level at half time, they carved us open three times Amos pulling off superb saves, it was a pretty interesting 0-0 we fought hard and defended well, we would have lost this game in previous two seasons, i think the defence is taking shape and credit to Moxey who seems to be getting better each game.

We were over run in mid field first half, however i disagree on Danns tonight he put a real shift in, Feeney is very annoying is final ball is poor. A shame for Clough however his pairing with Madine just doesn't work. Dobbie seemed to a make a good contribution so would stick with him until Clayton is fit.

Nicky hunt had that same problem with his shoulder.

Crap match, very even, nothing to get excited about from our point of view apart from Wellington who is looking one hell of a prospect, albeit a bit greedy, naive and downright stupid at times.

I do think the defence looks more settled than it has for many years mainly thanks to Prince. Osede and Wilson look decent so far as well.

I actually thought it might be a turning point for Feeney that not only did he score on Saturday, he managed to hit a cross that looked remotely dangerous. Obviously not. It's amazing to think what a breath of fresh air he was when he first came to the club compared with the useless one trick pony we see now.

Defence looks decent which is something to build on. Unfortunately Lennon seems to have a hard on for Feeney despite him being a truly awful player. Why the fook can't a professional footballer cross a ball when under little pressure? The reason he couldn't even get in Millwall's team is there for all to see.

And it's time to get shut of Madine, he simply doesn't have the skills for this level. And as soon as Heskey comes on you know it's going to get even worse.

It worries me that Lennon is so loyal to out of form or simply shit players.