Bolton host Ipswich under shadow of off-field problems

Posted Thursday, April 04, 2019 by PA

Bolton will look to put off-the-field problems to one side when they face Ipswich in a crucial clash for their survival hopes.

The club was back in the High Court this week to face a winding-up petition, while the players refused to train until Thursday over unpaid wages.

The game itself was in doubt, meanwhile, because of safety concerns but was eventually given the go-ahead.

Defender Jack Hobbs (back), midfielder Luke Murphy (calf) and forward Yanic Wildschut (ankle) are all likely to be doubtful, with Bolton bidding to close a five-point gap to safety against the Championship’s bottom side.

Teddy Bishop, Will Keane and James Collins are all in contention for Ipswich after returning to training.

Jon Nolan sustained an Achilles injury early on in last weekend’s defeat by Hull and is a major doubt, while Ellis Harrison has missed two days of training after hurting his back.

Tom Adeyemi, who has not made an appearance for Ipswich since October 2017, trained for the first time with the first team on Thursday, and Callum Elder is back at Portman Road after returning to his parent club Leicester for a hernia operation.

Matt Pennington’s season is over after he damaged ankle ligaments in training last week, with the on-loan Everton man going under the knife on Monday.