Wigan away. What an unsavory meat pie of a fixture. This match, no matter when or where, is hardly ever an exciting prospect. Still, to advance to the 5th round of the FA Cup, it has to be played. The home result was a very predictable 0-0 back on January 29 meaning that the trip away was winner-take-all.
Injuries and cup-tied players forced changes to both sides. David Wheater filled in for the injured Zat Knight while Ivan Klasnic was given the nod up front for Daniel Sturridge. Jussi Jaaskelainen was given a break as well with Adam Bogdan in goal and Rob Lainton on the bench. Wigan made 9 changes to their side, including Mike Pollitt for Bolton’s own Ali Al-Habsi.
There were really two main talking points from this match played in front of a crowd of about 7000 (nearly half of which were Bolton supporters), an attendance figure fit for the Rochester Rhinos (a third-division American team for those unaware). First, Samuel Ricketts. Our already thin defensive line just got thinner as Ricketts went down with an Achilles injury. It doesn’t look good and he faces a lengthy spell out. Sam went down while tracking Victor Moses. Owen Coyle said of the injury: “I think he just went to recover as Moses was raiding for Wigan, and it looked innocuous, but because of the speed the game is played at - he has certainly damaged his Achilles, that is for sure.”
Second, Ivan Klansic. The Croatian notched the only goal of the game in the 66th minute. Mark Davies played Klasnic in and Ivan took the shot from the edge of the six-yard box into the corner of the goal. His goal means that the Wanderers get to go to London on Sunday to face Fulham away. Expect some hot American on American action as Stuart Holden and Clint Dempsey go to head-to-head.