Preview: Bolton v Cardiff City
SETTING THE SCENEBolton Wanderers host Cardiff City at Macron Stadium on Saturday in their second home game in less than a week.
Having clinched a deserved point against Brentford last time out, the Whites will be looking to make home advantage count in their efforts to climb the table heading into the busy festive period.
Visitors Cardiff come into the match sitting in tenth place in the Championship and just two points outside the play-off places.
However, with just one win from their last six matches and one away victory all season, Bolton will be keen to replicate last season’s league double over the Bluebirds having won 3-0 in both BL6 and South Wales.
TEAM NEWSManager Neil Lennon confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Max Clayton is set for a prolonged spell on the sidelines and will be assessed further after injuring his hamstring against Brentford.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Mark Davies also misses out as he serves a one-match suspension after picking up his fifth booking of the season against the Bees, but Dean Moxey is available for selection having come through over an hour unscathed for the Under-21s against Barnsley on Tuesday night.
Elsewhere, Zach Clough (shoulder) and Wellington Silva (hamstring) have both stepped up their respective rehabilitations but Saturday’s game against Cardiff will come too soon for the duo.
LAST CARDIFF CITY XI (v Burnley, D2-2)Marshall, Peltier, Morrison, Connolly, Malone, Whittingham, Ralls, Noone, Gunnarsson (O’Keefe 67), Jones (Macheda 89), Watt (Mason 62).
ONE TO WATCHHaving enjoyed three separate loan stints with Wanderers in recent seasons, Joe Mason returns to Macron Stadium for the first time since his final temporary stint with the club ended last term.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]A graduate of Plymouth Argyle’s youth academy, his efforts for the Pilgrims earned him his move to Cardiff in 2011, with the young striker wasting no time in introducing himself to the club’s fans with 12 goals in his first season including one at Wembley against Liverpool in the Carling Cup Final.
Having twice moved to Bolton during the 2013/14 season, the 24-year-old re-joined the club last summer, going on to score the club’s first hat-trick in 12 years against Rotherham United last September before injury prompted an enforced premature return to South Wales.
Mason has enjoyed a fruitful campaign so far having established himself as first-choice in attack for the Bluebirds, topping Cardiff’s goalscoring charts with five strikes to his name.
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