Ian Evatt’s Bolton Wanderers emerged victorious over Shrewsbury Town in the Carabao cup second round.
With the potential to play a top six premier league side in the next round, the stakes were high as the League One sides commenced battle at the New Meadow Stadium. Shrewsbury never really troubled the Wanderers net, as goals from Jordi Osei-Tutu and Dion Charles saw the Whites progress to round three of the traditional league cup.
Here are five key takeaways from the cup encounter.
Depth is the key to success for Ian Evatt
With the fog of Wembley slowly starting to disperse from the minds of Bolton Wanderers fans, the new season couldn’t come quick enough. A talented squad missing just a few fresh cogs to unlock its true potential; Ian Evatt set about uncovering said cogs and acquiring them for his new look Wanderers. One said part isn’t an individual, rather the golden chalice in football: squad depth. Last season, much of the spine of the Trotters‘ side were condemned to the treatment room for lengthy periods of time. Nathan Baxter, Charles, Ricardo Santos and Kyle Dempsey all had long spells away from the side, with their replacements considered by many not to be of the same calibre. This disrupted the side’s flow and led to a drop in results leading up to the 2-0 Wembley defeat at the hands of Oxford United, subsequently costing the side promotion. The signings of Luke Southwood, Chris Forino, Jay Matete and John McAtee looked to reduce the quality-gap with Shrewsbury, seeing the full brunt of the Wanderers’ squad in tonight’s defeat.
Embed from Getty ImagesHurst winning in the loan market
Losing three out of three games wasn’t ideal preparation as one of League One’s promotion chasing sides rolled into New Meadow, so it wasn’t a great surprise to many as the Salop lost their opening four games of the 2024/25 season. However, Paul Hurst can find some encouragement through his young loanee trio of Leo Castledine, Charles Sagoe Jr. and Tommi O’Reilly. The latter, a second half substitute, was Salop’s brightest spark in the closing stages. With Bolton controlling the pace and tempo, Shrewsbury looked their brightest on the counter attack. Sagoe Jr, on loan from Swansea, troubled the visitors for large parts of the first half, but ultimately to no avail. His quick and tricky feet caused the Wanderers defence all sorts of problems before the break. Chelsea starlet Castledine, making his first appearance of the season, took longer to grow into the game, but once he moved out wide in the second half, he gave current league one player of the year Josh Dacres-Cogley a torrid time. As such, Hurst can take solace in the fact his young squad showed glimpses of promise against a side that will be fighting at the top come May.
Matete shines on full debut
One very exciting signing for Ian Evatt and Bolton Wanderers is Sunderland loanee Jay Matete. A tricky and tenacious midfielder and League One promotion specialist, the 23 year-old shone on his first starting bout for the Trotters. After struggling with injuries last term, Matete joined The Whites this summer to add much needed competition in midfield. as well as getting minutes under his belt in a division he knows inside out. The centre piece of everything Bolton did well this evening, Matete dictated and controlled proceedings, mixing dropping deep to collect the ball of the centre-halves with mazy runs through the Salop eleven. Still in the relative early stages of his career, Matete needs to almost take one step back to take two forward. However, on tonight’s viewing the, sky certainly looks the limit for the on-loan central midfielder.
Keepers share success at New Meadow
Although Toby Savin was on the losing side this evening, Shrewsbury Town and Paul Hurst are the right combination to restart a promising career. Once on the radar of Manchester United and Newcastle United, the young shot-stopper’s career has hit a bump after a disrupted 2023/24 season at Accrington Stanley. A contract stand off led to an emergency loan at Stevenage last season and his late season form convinced Shrewsbury to come knocking. Making a couple of big saves this evening from McAtee and Dempsey, Savin cuts a key figure for Paul Hurst and looks set to go to battle this time out as one of the most steady and impressive keepers at this level. Southwood on the other hand, denied John Marquis tremendously from point blank range in the first half, proving once again that he is not settling for a number two position. The ex-Cheltenham man joined in the summer, providing stiff competition for Nathan Baxter between the sticks after being the penalty hero in the first round and keeping a clean sheet in the second. Southwood and co. will wait for Thursday night’s draw to see if they can pull one of the country’s top sides in round three.
Embed from Getty ImagesDion Charles back on the scoresheet
After being hauled off at half-time in the capital last weekend, Wanderers talisman and number ten Dion Charles was in from the start once more. He silenced any lingering doubts by superbly doubling the Wanderers’ lead in the second half, doubling his tally for the season in the process. The Bolton striker has scored over 20 goals in his last two campaigns, and will have the expectation and pressure to go even better this time out as a focal point of a side chasing automatic promotion. With support from Victor Adeboyejo and Aaron Collins to come, Wanderers go into this season with three strikers capable of scoring well into double digits. However, if they are to give Birmingham and co. a proper challenge, then goals will need to come in steady supply from the whole side.