Bolton v Burnley

The result was harsh overall, and yes, it was yet another late concession, but there were positives to be gleaned ,particularly in light of the proliferation of subs after the well worked and very well taken equaliser. Wheater and Collins looked a good pairing, the formers momentary lapse of judgement for the penalty notwithstanding..he won't be facing many Andre Grays this coming season! Eardley and Wilson were solid and are square pegs in square holes, Amos looked slimmer and more confident, without being stretched. Mark Howard contributed one excellent reflex save, but not much variation in distribution other than a good throw to the halfway line...perhaps he forgot there was no Madine to aim for. Not sure what the alternative to Moxey is, Collins moved over later in the second half but Moxey had been  alert and linked well with Taylor, who showed a few bright touches and a desire to run with the ball. Spearing and Trotter worked well for me, the latter pounced on a slip by an opponent and found Spearing with an intelligent cross field ball which was dispatched expertly past the keeper. Those two, along with Mark Davies, Vela and Pratley should form the basis of a decent midfield in League 1, if they all remain with the club. Pratley looked a more mobile presence than last season, and even fell over to better effect on a couple of occasions; perhaps the manager will get more from these key players than his predecessors. Madine was found consistently by Amos, and looked far more committed over his 45 mins plus than he had for most of last season..he was good in the air, and held the ball up very well, in addition to chasing and harassing defenders... the need for a predator in the box remains though, hopefully a fit and  retained Clough. The (many) young subs had begun to show some promise in the play leading up to the sadly inevitable breakaway late on...Finney did very well to dispossess his opponent, but the rest of the defence were awol and the killer blow duly followed, although not as a result of being under the cosh, as happened late on so often last season. The team generally had performed capably against decent Premier league opposition, so further reasoned judgement on my part will wait until Saturday, hopefully following a better result and no injuries.

I think they both have another 12 months to go on their exorbitant wages - which is the stumbling block to trying to unload them.

I wouldn't think any club would want Dervitte unless they were really desperate.

All I would like to see and I think I am not alone in this is that we compete in this league and we can win more than we lose. I am not one for prediction's but would be happy with top half of the table maybe play-off's. Good luck to one and all.