Preview: Bolton Wanderers vs Lincoln City - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to make it three straight wins in League One and four in all competitions, Lincoln City will travel to the Toughsheet Community Stadium to take on Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

The visitors prevailed away at Northampton Town in midweek, while their hosts played out a second consecutive draw to make it three league games unbeaten.

Match preview

Bolton Wanderers head into the weekend aiming to continue an unbeaten streak in League One but in search of just a second win of the campaign and their latest promotion bid.

The Trotters' fifth straight third-tier campaign is their first full one under the management of Steven Schumacher, who took charge in January and led them to an eventual eighth-placed finish having fallen short of the playoffs as they went winless in their final six games.

After suffering a defeat to Stockport County on the opening day, the Lancashire outfit bounced back with a 2-0 home victory over Plymouth Argyle in early August, but they have failed to kick on since, firstly dropping out of the EFL Cup in a penalty shootout defeat to Sheffield Wednesday after a 3-3 draw in 90 minutes.

Schumacher's men would then fight back to draw 1-1 away at Barnsley last weekend, only to be pegged back themselves on Wednesday, having led Reading through Mason Burstow until the final 10 minutes only for Andre Garcia to level the game at a goal apiece and force a share of the spoils.

Bolton Wanderers will now bid to kick on in the coming weeks and put a winning run together beginning at the weekend to establish themselves amongst League One's frontrunners.

They face a tough test, though, as the visitors arrive aiming to extend a winning run and a pleasing start to their season.

Aiming to improve on an 11th-placed finish last time around in League One, Lincoln City have earned nine points from their first four outings, beginning with an opening-day 2-0 home victory over Reading.

An away defeat to AFC Wimbledon did follow, but the Imps have since recorded three straight wins, firstly seeing off Harrogate Town in the EFL Cup first round before they hosted Plymouth Argyle last weekend and won 3-2 thanks to Tom Bayliss's early opener and James Collins's second-half brace.

Then aiming to continue their impressive opening run, Michael Skubala's side most recently visited Northampton Town on Tuesday and again took all three points, having stood strong to see out a 1-0 triumph after Freddie Draper put them ahead in the 20th minute.

Now sitting seventh at this early stage of the new campaign, Lincoln City will aim to make it four straight wins and four victories in their first five league games on Saturday to further improve their standing at the right end of the table.

Bolton Wanderers League One form:

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Bolton Wanderers form (all competitions):

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Lincoln City League One form:

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Lincoln City form (all competitions):

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Team News

Bolton Wanderers remain without Victor Adeboyejo, Kyle Dempsey, William Forrester and summer signing Richard Taylor, all of whom have missed the start of the season through injury.

The Trotters may be unchanged from their midweek meeting with Reading, with Mason Burstow bound to again lead the line after netting the second goal of his loan spell from Hull City to put them ahead in that game.

He should have support from Joel Randall and fellow loan arrivals Ibrahim Cissoko and Amario Cozier-Duberry, while Xavier Simons and Ethan Erhahon, who joined from the visitors over the summer, will hope to continue their partnership in the engine room despite competition from Josh Sheehan.

Lincoln City will likely remain without Jack Moylan, Dom Jefferies and Lewis Montsma for their trip to the Toughsheet Community Stadium, while new midfielder Ivan Varfolomeev is unlikely to feature having only completed his move on Thursday.

Skubala could also field an unchanged starting XI with Freddie Draper, Rob Street, Reeco Hackett-Fairchuld and James Collins all likely to continue in the attacking unit having netted a combined tally of six goals in the early stages of the new season.

Behind them, Conor McGrandles is bound to join Tom Bayliss in the engine room, while Tendayi Darikwa, Tom Hamer, Sonny Bradley and Ryley Towler will line up in an unaltered back four following their midweek clean sheet.

Bolton Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Sharman-Lowe; Osei-Tutu, Forino-Joseph, Johnston, Conway; Simons, Erhahon; Cozier-Duberry, Randall, Cissoko; Burstow

Lincoln City possible starting lineup:

Wickens; Darikwa, Hamer, Bradley, Towler; Bayliss, McGrandles; Street, Draper, Hackett-Fairchild; Collins

We say: Bolton Wanderers 1-1 Lincoln City

Bolton Wanderers will hope to make their quality and home advantage count on Saturday, but they meet a Lincoln City side who arrive with plenty of confidence on the back of a stronger start, and we see a share of the spoils as the most likely outcome.

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