Wanderers had to work extremely hard to seal the victory against a Walsall team that had previously remained unbeaten at home without conceding a goal in five previous matches at the Bescot Stadium.

Substitute Kevin Nolan came off the bench to give Bolton the lead midway through the second half but veteran striker Martin Butler replied soonafter with a header to set up an interesting finish to the night's proceedings.

The Trotters manager Sam Allardyce was forced into making a number of changes to his defence after Abdoulaye Faye and Quinton Fortune pulled out with injuries and Tal Ben-Haim failed a pre-match fitness check.

Spaniard Ivan Campo moved back into the defence as an emergency left back and 19-year old Polish youth star Jarostaw Fojut was given his first full senior start alongside Abdoulaye Meite in the heart of the defence.

Walsall remained unchanged from the side which had proved victorious in the League Two match against Macclesfield Town over the weekend, with former Republic of Ireland international Mark Kinsella named amongst the Saddlers substitutes.

It was the enthusiastic hosts who where to come out of the traps the quickest and Bolton's experienced keeper Ian Walker had to be at his best to tip an effort from Butler around the post in the third minute.

Saddlers captain Michael Dobson and Tobagan striker Hector Sam also fired in shots towards the visitors goal in the first quarter of an hour but they wheren't accurate enough to sufficiently test Walker.

Bolton's young striker Ricardo Vaz-Te then wasted two good opportunities to open his goalscoring account for the season either side of Walsall centre half Chris Westwood hitting the post at the other end.

Vaz-Te and Anelka seemed to have a good understanding as part of a two man Bolton strikeforce and this partnership nearly paid dividens ten minutes before the break as the two forced Walsall into conceding a corner.

On the stroke of half-time Gary Speed stung the fingertips of Walsall keeper Clayton Ince with a powerful shot which the former Crewe custodian managed to gather cleanly at the second time of asking.

Walsall started the second half in a similar way to how they had started the first period as midfielder Dean Keates fired in a free kick from the edge of the box which Wanderers keeper Walker was able to claim.

Idan Tal, making his first full start for Bolton, headed against the Walsall crossbar on 53 minutes and Vaz-Te saw his effort saved by Ince a minute later as the two sides looked to make a breakthrough and force the opening goal of the contest.

Ex-Reading forward Butler was a lively performer for the Midlanders throughout as he saw his header flash just wide of the target on the hour mark when it seemed easier to score. Defender Westwood also nodded an effort wide of the Bolton goalmouth and full back Craig Pead balooned the ball over the top as the hosts looked to edge in front.

However it was Bolton captain Nolan who opened the scoring arguably against the run of play on 68 minutes when tapping the ball home at the far post after some good work in the build up by record signing Nicolas Anelka.

The excellent Dobson had a hand in bringing Walsall back on level terms as his thunderous free kick came back of the post and presented Butler will the simple task of putting the rebound into the back of the net.

Butler could have had recorded another goal as both he and strike partner Hector Sam where close to breaching Ian Walker's goal but Ivan Campo ensured the game was sewn up for Bolton four minutes from time when heading home a corner past Ince.

Anelka scored his first goal in Bolton colours from close range to seal the victory and Wanderers will now wait and see who they get in the draw for the next round.

Bolton Wanderers: Ian Walker, Nicky Hunt, Jarostaw Fojut, Abdoulaye Meite, Ivan Campo, Stelios Giannakopoulos (El-Hadji Diouf), Andranik Teimourian (Kevin Nolan), Idan Tal, Gary Speed, Ricardo Vaz-Te, Nicolas Anelka

Subs Not Used: Blazej Augustyn, Scott Jamieson, Ali Al-Habsi

Walsall: Clayton Ince, Craig Pead, Chris Westwood, Ian Roper, Daniel Fox (Ishmel Demontagnac), Mark Wright, Dean Keates, Michael Dobson, Kris Taylor, Hector Sam, Martin Butler

Subs Not Used: Tony Bedeau, Mark Kinsella, Scott Dann, Rene Gilmartin

Referee:

Andy D'Urso

Attendance:

6,243

Booked:

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