Sports Mole previews Saturday’s League One clash between Crawley Town and Bolton Wanderers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Crawley Town welcome Bolton Wanderers in League One on Saturday, and while both sides will be hoping to give their season a much-needed shot in the arm, the hosts will be reeling from the news that manager Scott Lindsey has left the club to join MK Dons.
Bolton meanwhile were eliminated from the EFL Cup in midweek following a heavy defeat against Arsenal, and they are yet to get their season up and running after a disappointing start to the campaign.
Match preview
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After Wednesday’s shock move that saw Crawley manager Lindsey drop a division to sign for MK Dons, the Red Devils come into Saturday’s game managerless and on a run of five games without a win in all competitions, with the most recent result being a 2-1 defeat away at table-toppers Wrexham.
Goals from Elliott Lee and Max Cleworth were enough to see the hosts continue their fine form, although Armando Quitirna‘s equaliser in the 54th minute did have the hosts worried, and on chances created Crawley were certainly the better of the two sides.
It had been a great start to the season for the newly-promoted Red Devils as they won their first four games in all competitions, and even in their narrow defeats to Wigan Athletic and Wrexham and their home draw against Stockport County, Crawley showed plenty of quality in the formative weeks of the campaign.
Lindsey became manager of Crawley in January 2023 and in his first full season at the club he led them to promotion after a dramatic late playoff push, before beating Crewe Alexandra 2-0 in the League Two playoff final.
Now though, the Red Devils will have to look for a new manager and hope that this shock news does not derail a season which had shown early signs of promise that they would be competitive at this level and avoid the drop.
Crawley are yet to name an interim manager, but there are rumours that former captain Ben Gladwin could take the helm for the visit of Bolton on Saturday; the midfielder finished his career at Crawley and joined the club’s coaching team upon his retirement in 2024.
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Bolton meanwhile come into Saturday’s game on the back of a 5-1 defeat against Arsenal in the EFL Cup on Wednesday evening, when goals from Declan Rice, Ethan Nwaneri, Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz demonstrated the obvious gulf in quality between the sides, although Aaron Collins‘s second-half strike to make it 2-1 did give the Gunners a brief scare.
Their previous league game was however a more fruitful experience with their scintillating 5-2 home win over Reading last weekend, when goals from Josh Sheehan, Kyle Dempsey and a Dion Charles hat-trick helped the Trotters to a superb victory which lifted them out of the relegation zone.
It was a much-needed win for Ian Evatt‘s side, as they had been on a dismal run which had seen them lose back-to-back home league games; the first being 2-0 against Exeter City and the second being a heavy 4-0 defeat against Huddersfield Town.
For a side that would have been hoping to challenge for the League One playoffs this season it will be a huge source of disappointment for Bolton to be 19th in the table, but at this early stage of the season they are only four points away from Lincoln City in sixth.
Crawley Town League One form:
Crawley Town form (all competitions):
Bolton Wanderers League One form:
Bolton Wanderers form (all competitions):
Team News
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Crawley are expected to once again be without Gavan Holohan and Dion Conroy, with both players yet to feature this season but both are expected to be back in action sooner rather than later.
Elsewhere, Jay Williams and Panutche Camara are expected to keep their place in the centre of the midfield, but Bradley Ibrahim could be pushing for a start here should the manager look to rotate.
Further up the pitch, Ronan Darcy and Quitirna look likely to once again support Will Swan in attack, with the likes of Max Anderson and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy having to settle for a spot on the bench.
Bolton are not without injury concerns of their own, with Jordi Osei-Tutu, Carlos Mendes Gomes, Klaidi Lolos, Gethin Jones and Will Forester all expected to miss out here.
Evatt made seven changes for the midweek cup trip to Arsenal, so we would expect him to revert back to a similar lineup which featured in the 5-2 victory over Reading last weekend.
That is likely to mean that Charles and Victor Adeboyejo are expected to return in attack at the expense of Collins and John McAtee.
Crawley Town possible starting lineup:
Wollacott; Mullarkey, Mukena, Flint; Camara, Williams, Anderson, Kelly; Quitirna, Darcy, Swan
Bolton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Baxter; Toal, Santos, Johnston; Cogley Matete, Sheehan, Thomason, Schon; Charles, Adeboyejo
We say: Crawley Town 1-2 Bolton Wanderers
With little to separate these two sides heading into Saturday’s game, the knock-on effect of Crawley losing their manager could just swing this game narrowly in the favour of Bolton, but given the recent defensive frailties of the visitors, it would be a surprise if they kept a clean sheet on the road this weekend.
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