Bolton v Tottenham preview

02 October 2009 10:52
Bolton will hope to dent Tottenham's aspirations to finish in the top four this season when they meet at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday. Harry Redknapp's Spurs will arrive in the North West in a buoyant frame of mind following their best start to a campaign in Premier League history. Last weekend's thumping of Burnley epitomised the revitalising job performed by Redknapp since his arrival and put Tottenham back on track following defeats to Manchester United and Chelsea. Spurs' aim is to break the stranglehold of the 'big four' in England's top flight and they appear well equipped, but Bolton will have other ideas. Relegation is always a concern for Gary Megson's side and the Trotters faithful tend to spend most campaigns taking a nervous look down the table. However, this term has offered more promise and Bolton will be optimistic that they can rattle Spurs following a run four games without defeat in all competitions. Megson, though, will be without Johan Elmander as the striker sustained a hamstring injury in Monday's reserve game that will keep him sidelined for at least 10 days. Elmander injuryElmander is probably ruled out of Sweden's World Cup qualifiers with Denmark and Albania next week as well. Megson has no other concerns and will therefore need to decide whether Lee Chung-Yong, who impressed when scoring the winner against Blackburn, should start. Sean Davis is out for the season while Joey O'Brien is still missing. Spurs have a poor record at Bolton and Redknapp has confessed that he is likely to select a tall, powerful side to combat against their hosts' physical approach. With that in mind, Peter Crouch could start, but there remain doubts over Ledley King and Roman Pavlyuchenko. Jonathan Woodgate is unavailable, meaning Tom Huddlestone will compete with Michael Dawson, who has recovered from injury, to play at centre-back. Jermain Defoe has broken a bone in one of his hands, while Luka Modric remains sidelined through injury. Possible starting XIsBolton: Jaaskelainen, Ricketts, Cahill, Knight, Samuel, Cohen, Taylor, Muamba, McCann, K Davies, Klasnic. Tottenham: Cudicini, Corluka, Bassong, Huddlestone, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Jenas, Palacios, Kranjcar, Keane, Crouch.

Source: SKY_Sports