Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho has admitted that he expects Bolton Wanderers to be a real threat in the play-offs this season, as the club comfortably came away with a 3-1 victory at Oakwell on Friday night.
The Trotters went to South Yorkshire yesterday uncertain of what to expect from Barnsley. The Tykes had sacked their manager, Neill Collins, just two weeks ago and picked up a 1-1 draw at home to Northampton Town last Saturday to clinch a spot in the top six on the final day.
However, it looked quite comfortable for Ian Evatt’s men throughout the match. Dion Charles opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, capping off a sumptuous team goal before doubling his tally just a few minutes after the half-hour mark from the penalty spot. Sam Cosgrave pulled one back for Barnsley with a quarter of an hour remaining but a goal from Randell Williams in stoppage time from a corner handed the visitors a two-goal advantage.
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With one foot in the play-off final, Bolton Wanderers fans will be keeping a close eye on tonight’s clash between Oxford United and Peterborough United at the Kassam Stadium. Nevertheless, the Greater Manchester club will still need to finish off the tie on Tuesday at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
As a guest during Sky Sports’ coverage of the game last night, Pompey boss Mousinho heaped praise on Evatt and his side, claiming that Bolton will be frustrated to have missed out on the automatic promotion places late in the campaign [quotes via The Bolton News]:
“I think they will definitely be frustrated [to have missed out on automatic promotion],” Mousinho said.
“For me, Bolton are a better side than they were at the back end of last year so I think that is certainly going to help them.
“They have consistently been one of the best sides in the league throughout and it is no surprise to me that they are right up there, they have been up there all season. We had a really tough job staving them off and making sure we kept them at arm’s length,” he continued.
“I think Bolton are in really good shape and they have got pretty much a fully fit squad to choose from, some of the big players back. I expect them to be a real threat.”
Writer’s View
Bolton Wanderers ran Derby County and Portsmouth really close throughout the season but came up five points short of the top two in the end. A poor run of form in February and the start of March certainly didn’t help.
However, the Trotters are undoubtedly the strongest team in the play-offs right now. If Oxford can come out on top against the Posh, it will leave the door wide open for Evatt’s men to seal a return to the second tier.
