A very important evening....

I really believe with those 3 back in the team we will be formidable. We need to stop ar5ing about with these rubbish bit part players like Andrews and pratley, ream and mears and get a proper team working together.

Still seeing so much SKD bashing.....it is still baffling me...nobody has yet given a good reason for it

Clegg its not SKD bashing. Its getting away from a tired formula that we have used for many years and has the focal point of SKD being 36! Its trying something different and doing what we had hoped for back when OC first started - giving the kids a chance

i appreciate that sentiment, but we dont need experiments now. Its vitally important we get promoted, tried and tested should be our aim. Also, our issues arent up top, they are at the back. Some would say, you should defend from the front, which i agree with, but who better than SKD at that?

36 has nothing to do with it.

Giggs
Scholes
Friedel
K Philliips
etc
etc

All are proof that, if your good enough, your young enough

I think it's too late for this season. Although I live in hope. We are getting players back but so are other teams....it's all relative.

I have to disagree with you Clegg. Yes it was tried and tested, but SKD is not the player he was 2-3 years ago. I appreciate that he is one of our top scorers this season, but I put that more down to mins on the pitch. I still think SKD should defo be involved and in certain circumstances, i.e. a particular defence he would be up against or a ref taking the game, he should start, but I don't want to keep seeing us playing in the same way and giving the ball away by hoofing it up the pitch.

Ball retention has always been one of our worst attributes as a team for many years and that has always involved SKD waving his arms for a long ball up from defence. We need to play smarter, i.e. Swansea and Liverpool under BR and learn to keep hold of the ball. Long ball would work with SKD if we had someone with a really good delivery, but without a good dead-ball specialist or a player that can pick out a long pass, then its simply giving the ball away to the opposition each and every time - not necessarily SKDs fault though, but its just something we shouldn't be doing.

"36 has nothing to do with it.

Giggs
Scholes
Friedel
K Philliips
etc
etc"

Are any of the player you mention above focal players for their team? Are any of the above strikers who should be scoring at least 15 goals per season? The answer is no. As CEF says it has become a tired formula that doesnt have the desired impact anymore. It's simply time for SKD to take more of a back seat kind of role.

Back on topic, unfortunately I am lead to believe that Mavies and Wheater will not feature in tonights game and both are set to come back around a month or so.

WB DF has confirmed otherwise mate:
http://www.lionofviennasuite.com/2013/1/8/3850220/dougie-freedman-confirms-mark-davies-and-david-wheater-reserve

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wanderers/wanderersnews/10147698._/?

JAH, I would love us to get promoted but on a realistic note it's not on.

We will still have setbacks unless we are extremely lucky and that doesn't seem to be in the stars for us, so I think we have to rebuild for next season and hope that we get the rub of the green.

As far as Kevin Davies is concerned, if you went to the boxing day game you will know why we need him. At the moment he is a must start up front. That could change but certainly not in the next six weeks.

Holden came through 65 mins unscathed. We won 3-0.