Carling Cup - Burnley v. Bolton Wanderers

The home supporters will have nothing better to do than shout obscenities at Owen Coyle, but I don't think that will really have any bearing on the match itself.  I think Brian Laws will play his entire first team, as his aforementioned supporters will be baying for blood.  Owen Coyle, on the other hand, will send out what is essentially a B team for this one.  The thing is, I like our B team.

Adam Bogdan will continue in goal, and the lad has shown definite potential, it will be no surprise if he is our number one keeper in a few years.

Due to injuries and suspensions, the back-line will be very similar to what we will see against Manchester United in the league on Sunday.  Gretar Steinsson at right-back, as usual, a partnership of Zat Knight and Sam Ricketts in the middle, and the one change, Marcus Alonso  at left back.  All eyes will be on Alonso, as many in the Bolton universe would like to see him replace Paul Robinson in the first team, and the sooner the better.

The midfield is where we will see some big changes.  We know that Mark Davies and Matt Taylor will start, and it is very likely Tamir Cohen will be in the first eleven as well.  And given the players available to Coyle, I think he will play a 4-2-3-1.

Carling Cup - Southampton vs Bolton

Bolton are through to the third round of the league cup after beating League One side Southampton 1-0. Ivan Klasnic (pictured) scored the goal for Bolton, who were not really recognizable from the team that beat West Ham on Saturday. Owen Coyle made nine changes, keeping only captain Kevin Davies and Zat Knight in the starting XI.

There were two notable debuts for the Wanderers. 21-year-old Hungarian goalkeeper Adam Bogdan has been with the club for several years made his first senior appearance in place of Jussi Jaaskelainen, who received a well-deserved rest after his heroics at Upton Park. But the player everyone who supports Bolton wanted to see was Marcos Alonso, the 18-year-old product of real Madrid's academy who made his Wanderers debut at left back.

The consensus seems to be that Alonso is an attack-minded fullback, and that it will take some time for him to acclimatize to his new country, as well as adapt to the Premier League style of play. Many thought he lacked positional sense against the Saints, but that may be more due to youthful exuberance than anything else. Bolton's current left back, Paul Robinson, is a hard worker, but very limited technically as well as athletically, and quite honestly, he is a red card waiting to happen who is lucky when a match passes without him conceding a penalty. My best estimate is that Alonso will win the starting job by Christmas. His presence and attacking flare will give Wanderers a whole new dimension on the left wing, and make it much more difficult for clubs to focus on Martin Petrov, as they have the last two weeks.