Hartlepool United continue their successful return to the Football League with a third round tie in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday evening, with League One side Bolton Wanderers the visitors to Victoria Park.
The hosts returned to action with a goalless draw in their League Two tie on New Year's Day, whilst the visitors fell to a narrow defeat at Rotherham United.
Match preview
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Although just a point against bottom-of-the-table Oldham Athletic on Saturday could be viewed as a disappointment for Hartlepool, it was still one more recorded on their way to achieving a potentially comfortable finish on their return to League Two.
After earning promotion back from the National League last season, few could have predicted that Hartlepool would be sitting in a strong position of 15th at the halfway stage of the campaign.
With nine points now being between the Monkey Hangers and Scunthorpe United in the drop zone, little pressure is on Graeme Lee's side, and as a result their full focus can now turn to their cup tie on Tuesday.
Lee's first match in charge of Hartlepool was the shock 3-0 triumph at League One giants Sheffield Wednesday back at the start of December, and with two more wins and just one defeat following in his next five games, confidence will be high in the League Two side's camp ahead of their clash with another third tier opponent.
In addition to this, despite sitting in the bottom half of the table, Hartlepool possess the fourth-best home record across their division at this stage after picking up 24 points from their 12 home league games so far, so there are plenty of reasons for Lee's side and their supporters to believe in another cup upset on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Bolton's long-awaited return to action ended in disappointment on Saturday, as Ian Evatt's side fell 2-1 to League One leaders Rotherham.
Eoin Doyle equalised for the Trotters just before half time, but despite matching their high-flying opponents for much of the encounter, they came away empty-handed come the final whistle.
That defeat was Bolton's first fixture for three weeks, after their previous three matches against Wycombe Wanderers, Morecambe and Burton Albion had all been postponed due to COVID-19 issues.
Despite the previous encounters being played weeks before however, defeat at the New York Stadium was in fact Bolton's third in a row, in Evatt's side's latest inconsistent run of form.
Three successive losses leave Bolton in 16th in League One, with just four points currently between themselves and a potential immediate return to the fourth tier.
The cup tie on Tuesday will provide a welcome distraction from looking over their shoulders though, in a competition that they have managed a 100% record in so far, after victories over Port Vale, Rochdale, Liverpool Under-21s and Fleetwood Town to date.
Despite possessing a divisional advantage over their opponents in midweek, Evatt will be all too aware of the confidence in their hosts' camp, and will be looking to ensure his side are not complacent ahead of their opportunity to reach the quarter-finals stage.
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Team News
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Hartlepool were glad that Jamie Sterry overcame an illness to start and put in an excellent display against Oldham on Saturday, after being substituted off in their previous fixture.
Tyler Burey continues to work his way back to full fitness and made his first start in four months at the weekend, whilst his teammates continue to recover to 100% themselves since their recent COVID-19 outbreak.
His strike partner Jordan Cook hobbled off just after the 30-minute mark though, so the forward's availability will be assessed in the build-up.
As for the visitors, they could hand a debut to their new acquisition Dion Charles on Tuesday, who narrowly missed out on signing in time for Saturday's defeat after arriving from Accrington Stanley.
Kieran Lee remains unavailable though, with the midfielder suffering from the effects of catching COVID-19 following the recent outbreak within the Bolton camp.
Jordan Williams was also absent from the loss at Rotherham due to isolation, but with him expected to return to training on Monday, he will be in contention to feature on Tuesday.
Hartlepool United possible starting lineup:
Killip; Sterry, Byrne, Liddle, Odusina, Ferguson; Holohan, Featherstone, Shelton; Burey, Molyneux
Bolton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Dixon; Senior, Santos, Johnston, John; Williams, Thomason; Kachunga, Delfouneso, Afolayan; Doyle
We say: Hartlepool United 2-1 Bolton Wanderers
With Hartlepool being on a good run of form heading into this one, as well as Bolton's struggles with form and COVID-19 issues, we can see the hosts pulling off an upset on Tuesday.
Despite there being a division between these two sides, Hartlepool have displayed enough to show they can cause another shock here after thumping League One outfit Sheffield Wednesday in the previous round too.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bolton Wanderers win with a probability of 37.5%. A win for Hartlepool United had a probability of 36.04% and a draw had a probability of 26.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bolton Wanderers win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.84%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.24%) and 0-2 (6.44%). The likeliest Hartlepool United win was 1-0 (9.61%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.58%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 9.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Hartlepool United would win this match.
