Ten Quick Thoughts About Ayr United 1-1 Bolton Wanderers

Bolton drew 1-1 with Ayr United in their first match of the preseason as the Championship is now less than a month away. Despite coming off of a long two months without any match play (save for Keith Andrews who represented Ireland at the European Championships), Bolton Wanderers looked mostly up for it. Sure, they were a bit off the pace but that doesn't mean the match didn't give us any insights about what to expect from Bolton Wanderers as they grow into the nPower Championship.

1. The new kit looks great in action. It's a clean design that actually looks like a Bolton Wanderers shirt (except for the orange logo thing on the front).

2. Ayr's pitch was tiny, the stands were even smaller. Maybe everything in Scotland is miniature.

3. Adam Bogdan is taking some risks by getting off his line. A few times against Ayr, he ran a long way to get to the ball.

4. Zat Knight still isn't graceful but he showed a lot of tenacity. His key moment in the match came when he cleared a sure goal from an Ayr shot.

5. Keith Andrews missed a sitter but the story there is Chung Yong Lee's work leading up to it. He easily lost his mark(s) through fancy footwork and crossed a very well weighted ball across the face of goal. Shame Andrews couldn't finish it.

6. Bolton Wanderers are still having trouble clearing the ball. There were more than a few times in the match that it bounced in and around the box as the men in white failed to get it out.

7. Greg Wylde and Martin Petrov are putting good balls into the box and finding men on the end of them. Bolton had a lot of trouble playing in good set pieces last year, especially from corners.

8. Tom Eaves has some bulk on him now. When he came to Bolton, he looked like he had a bit of a Peter Crouch physique but now it looks like he can use some muscle in the box and get his 6'3 frame to get some goals.

9. Speaking of Eaves, he put in a good showing in the time he got on the field. Shortly after coming on, Eaves glanced a header just over the bar. A little while after, he set up Marcos Alonso's goal with an excellent lay-off that the Spaniard did well to finish.

10. Bolton look like they can cause some trouble in opposition boxes this year. Matt Mills came close on a couple headers, Darren Pratley did some work, and Kevin Davies is just being Kevin Davies. Expect some goals.