A note from the Chairman

I look forward to seeing as many of you back at Macron Stadium for tonight's Carabao Cup fixture against Sheffield Wednesday - our second home game inside three days.

Following on from Saturday's league encounter against Derby County, we were all understandably disappointed come the final whistle that we had suffered a second defeat on home soil since our return to the Sky Bet Championship.

Ultimately, the goals we conceded were very soft and as the manager said in his post-match interviews, the early set-back ensured that life was made extremely difficult for us against a very good Derby County side.

Allowing any team in this division to score two goals like Derby did will always give them a huge lift, especially a team playing away from home, and although the players did not give up and eventually pulled an effort back, it just wasn't our afternoon. 

The main thing that the players can do now however is to take advantage of the quick turnaround in fixtures and put the mistakes of Saturday to bed, starting this evening against Sheffield Wednesday.

Tonight's game, although against a team in the same division as us, will give the players the opportunity to pit their wits against a very good side without the pressure of the league on their shoulders.

If the team play as we all know they can, with any luck, we will be looking forward to the third round draw following the final whistle this evening.

A win in any competition in football is important as it breeds confidence, and that will be crucial as we travel to Hull this coming Friday for our final game before the upcoming international break.

We need to head into that fortnight in as high spirits as possible and with your backing, I am confident that we will pick up the results needed this week to do just that.

Elsewhere, our recruitment team are working hard behind the scenes to add to our ranks before the transfer window closes next week.

We have been dealt a huge blow in losing players such as David Wheater, Josh Vela and Sammy Ameobi to injury in recent weeks which makes our task even more difficult and effectively means that the manager is working with a squad of 20 players out of the 23 we are permitted under the restrictions of the embargo.

As we have done for the past year-and-a-half however, we will continue to give our all and work tirelessly to ensure that we are in as strong a position as possible to compete in the Sky Bet Championship.

As I have said on numerous occasions, your backing and unwavering support, coupled with our unified determination to make Bolton Wanderers as successful as possible, will make all the difference as we strive to send out a statement of intent to the wider footballing world.

As usual, let's be loud, let's be proud and let's get behind the team tonight as we look to continue our journey in the cup.

Kind regards,

Ken

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