By Mark Heys
May 11 2007

The Wanderers know that a win against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon is essential if they are to book their place in next seasons UEFA Cup. Results elsewhere and their own poor form has meant that this situation has gone down to the wire but their destiny remains very much in their own hands going into the clash at the Reebok Stadium.

A promising draw against Chelsea a fortnight ago has been overshadowed by defeats against Reading and West Ham United and new Bolton boss Sammy Lee will be eager to get something from this game as he takes charge for the first time in front of his home supporters.

The injury crisis which has haunted the Trotters over the last few weeks appears to be easing as both Abdoulaye Faye (foot) and Tal Ben-Haim (knee) are responding well to treatment and could have a chance of resuming their place in the side.

Lee is however without Nicky Hunt (calf) and knee injury victims El-Hadji Diouf and Joey O'Brien, although the latter is now back in light training after almost a year out of action.

If Faye and Ben-Haim do make the team then it is likely that the places of David Thompson and Ivan Campo could be under threat dependant on how the Bolton boss views things.

Youngster James Sinclair may once again get a chance to mix with the seniors after responding well to Premiership life in the last two outings against Chelsea and West Ham.

Villa have three injury concerns for their trip to the North West as former Blackburn Rovers striker Chris Sutton is out for the season with an eye injury similar to the one which affected Manchester United's Paul Scholes last season.

Scottish international Shaun Maloney (ankle) and long serving Mark Delaney (knee) are also expected to be ruled out of contention for Martin O'Neill's side.

Villa themselves could also make the UEFA Cup but not via the Premiership standings. They are currently high up on the Fair Play League and could qualify if current leaders Tottenham Hotspur cement their European place this weekend.

PREMIERSHIP RECORD

30/08/1995 ASTON VILLA 1 (Yorke) BOLTON WANDERERS 0

10/03/1996 BOLTON WANDERERS 0 ASTON VILLA 2 (Yorke 2)

04/10/1997 BOLTON WANDERERS 0 ASTON VILLA 1 (Milosevic)

25/04/1998 ASTON VILLA 1 (Taylor) BOLTON WANDERERS 3 (Cox,Taylor,Blake)

27/10/2001 ASTON VILLA 3 (Angel 2, Vassell) BOLTON WANDERERS 2 (Ricketts 2)

30/03/2002 BOLTON WANDERERS 3 (Delaney OG, Bobic, Nolan) ASTON VILLA 2 (Warhurst OG, Taylor)

01/09/2002 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Ricketts) ASTON VILLA 0

01/01/2003 ASTON VILLA 2 (Dublin, Vassell) BOLTON WANDERERS 0

05/10/2003 ASTON VILLA 1 (Angel) BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Nolan)

10/04/2004 BOLTON WANDERERS 2 (Pedersen, Davies) ASTON VILLA 2 (Crouch, Hendrie)

13/11/2004 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Diouf) ASTON VILLA 2 (McCann, Hitzlsperger)

23/04/2005 ASTON VILLA 1 (Hierro OG) BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Speed)

13/08/2005 ASTON VILLA 2 (Phillips, Davis) BOLTON WANDERERS 2 (Davies, Campo)

10/12/2005 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Diouf) ASTON VILLA 1 (Angel)

16/12/2006 ASTON VILLA 0 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Speed)

PREMIERSHIP FORM GUIDE:

Played: 15

Won: 4

Drawn: 5

Lost: 6

CONNECTIONS

Franz Carr, Neil Cox, Sasa Curcic, Gareth Farrelly, Stuart Gray, John Gregory, Kevin Poole, Bruce Rioch, Bryan Small, Alan Thompson

IT HAPPENED WHEN BOLTON PLAYED VILLA

Kevin Phillips scored his first Villa goal against Bolton last season when the two sides met at Villa Park. Bolton could have won the game but for the referee disallowing a Kevin Nolan goal for offside.

Villa where the first ever club to win a game at the Reebok Stadium when Yugoslav striker Savo Milosevic scored the only goal in an 0-1 scoreline back in October 1997.

Gary Speed scored his first goal for Wanderers when these two sides met in a game at Villa Park in April 2005.

Bolton's last win against Villa at home came in the 2002-2003 season when Birmingham-born Michael Ricketts scored the only goal of the game.