By Mark Heys
March 30 2006

Bolton Wanderers hope to recover from last weekend's disappointing result up at Middlesbrough as they play host arch rivals Manchester United at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Wanderers looked to have earned themselves a share of the points at the Riverside Stadium last Sunday following a superb second half comeback but a lapse in concentration in the final moments allowed Boro wing back Stuart Parnaby to grab the decisive winning goal.

Such mistakes will prove costly this weekend against a United side currently riding high in the Premiership table and looking for their seventh straight win in all competitions following the midweek win over West Ham United.

Bolton themselves are on a good run of home form and have lost just once at the Reebok Stadium since the current season began. This came way back in August when European rivals Everton recorded a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Marcus Bent.

French forward David Bellion dramatically bundled the ball home in the final minute of last season's encounter between these two sides to earn United a draw after substitute Les Ferdinand had thought he had won the game for Bolton following a defensive mix up between Tim Howard and Mickael Silvestre.

Bolton have Ivan Campo and Matt Jansen making steady progress following long term injury lay offs but neither are expected to be risked for the game against the League Cup holders.

Striker El-Hadji Diouf made the bench for the game against Middlesbrough and is set to be handed a similar role this weekend, whilst key defender Bruno N'Gotty should return to the starting eleven in place of Radhi Jaidi.

United have a long term injury list which sees Paul Scholes (eye condition), Alan Smith (broken leg), Wes Brown (groin), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (cheekbone) and Gabriel Heinze (knee) all on the sidelines.

England internationals Kieron Richardson (ankle) and Gary Neville (hamstring) are both injury doubts and may not make the short journey across the North West so Gerard Pique may once again be called into action at right back following a confident performance against West Ham.

Sir Alex Ferguson must also decide on whether to recall Louis Saha or stick with Wednesday night's matchwinner Ruud Van Nistelrooy to play alongside Wayne Rooney.

Academy youngsters Darren Gibson, Richie Jones and Markus Neumayer could once again be added to the squad to compensate for the loss of a number of key professionals.

PREMIERSHIP RECORD

16/09/1995 MANCHESTER UNITED 3 (Scholes 2, Giggs) BOLTON WANDERERS 0

25/02/1996 BOLTON WANDERERS 0 MANCHESTER UNITED 6 (Beckham, Bruce, Cole, Scholes 2, Butt)

20/09/1997 BOLTON WANDERERS 0 MANCHESTER UNITED 0

07/02/1998 MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Cole) BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Taylor)

20/10/2001 MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Veron) BOLTON WANDERERS 2 (Nolan, Ricketts)

29/01/2002 BOLTON WANDERERS 0 MANCHESTER UNITED 4 (Solskjaer 3, Van Nistelrooy)

11/09/2002 MANCHESTER UNITED 0 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Nolan)

22/02/2003 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (N'Gotty) MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Solskjaer)

16/08/2003 MANCHESTER UNITED 4 (Giggs 2, Scholes, Van Nistelrooy) BOLTON WANDERERS 0

07/01/2004 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (G.Neville OG) MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Giggs, Scholes)

11/09/2004 BOLTON WANDERERS 2 (Nolan, Ferdinand) MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Heinze, Bellion)

26/12/2004 MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Giggs, Scholes) BOLTON WANDERERS 0

31/12/2005 MANCHESTER UNITED 4 (N'Gotty OG, Saha, Ronaldo 2) BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Speed)

PREMIERSHIP FORM GUIDE:

Played: 13

Won: 2

Drawn: 4

Lost: 7

CONNECTIONS

John Ball, Peter Barnes, Peter Beardsley, Wyn Davies, Tony Dunne, Alan Gowling, Ian Greaves, Brian Kidd, Harry McShane, Willie Morgan, John O’Kane, Ricky Sbragia, Frank Stapleton, Paul Wheatcroft, Bill Wrigglesworth

IT HAPPENED WHEN BOLTON PLAYED UNITED

Bolton's biggest Premiership defeat came in February 1996 at Burnden Park as United ran out 6-0 winners

Gary Pallister (Manchester United) and Nathan Blake (Bolton Wanderers) where sent off for fighting when these two sides met in September 1997. Pallister later having his caution overturned by an FA Panel

The 40th Anniversairy of the Munich Air Tragedy took place on 7th February 1998 and Bolton where the visitors to Old Trafford. Bob Taylor put the Wanderers in front with his first goal for the club since moving from West Brom but Andy Cole struck four minutes from time with a header following a defensive mix up

In October 2001 United where the ones making the defensive blunders as Wes Brown allowed Bolton's Michael Ricketts to gain a late winner at Old Trafford for the Wanderers first win there since 1978-79

Last minute blunders have proved costly for Bolton in recent years. In 2003 Ricardo Gardner gave the ball away to David Beckham who in turn crossed for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to equalise and in 2004 the same happened as Nicky Hunt allowed David Bellion to net a rare goal in a 2-2 draw

Les Ferdinand scored his only Premiership goal for Bolton against United in September 2004. Gabriel Heinze, making his United debut in that game, also found the net.

On New Years Eve 2005 Wanderers stalwart Bruno N'Gotty put through his own net to help United on their way to a 4-1 victory, inspired by England international Wayne Rooney