The new season is upon us and with the memories of last season seemingly fading away, it’s time to look forward to another 10 months of thrilling, heart stopping moments in a Bolton Wanderers season (even if it is within the Championship) and I can’t wait. It’s not just the return of football at the Reebok, it’s the refreshing way the squad is looking going into the new season. If you fancy a punt on the Whites this weekend, consider backing them on getfreebets.co.uk.

During the summer, we’ve done well in my opinion, and it’s surprising because I thought things would be much worse. Come the 18^th of August I thought we wouldn’t have Lee, Holden or Mark Davies and we’d replace them with below average players from Scotland and League One. Instead, the only players we got rid of was dead wood (in my opinion) and replaced them with promoted younger players along with bringing in hard working players Matt Mills and Keith Andrews. One more defensive midfielder and even a left back would make the summer a great success, but at the minute, it’s not that important.

Is there a better way to ‘raise the curtain’ on our season then an away trip to Coyle’s old team, local rivals and the not very nice people at Burnley? So, lets take a look at Burnley; they’ve had a good pre-season despite losing their main man Jay Rodriguez. They’ve replaced the hit man, now at The Saints and replaced him with Sam Vokes, a player nowhere near the standard of his counter part. Although Kevin Robinson (No Nay Never – Burnley Blog writer) has a different opinion;

“So selling him wasn’t as big a loss as it might seem to outsiders – and regardless we’ve got a cracking strike force. Charlie Austin, Sam Vokes, Martin Paterson and Danny Ings should prove one of the most lethal in the league – and puts Bolton’s reliance on Marvin Sordell to shame.”

So the Burnley faithful don’t seem to have the same faith we do in our strike force, and I think quite the opposite. However, Burnley are fresh off a win in the Capital Cup – and it does pain me to say that they looked rather good against Port Vale. Should we look see Burnley as a threat? Yes, as it would be foolish not to, but our midfield and strike force should be too much for Burnley’s defence.

N’gog’s back and Holden’s long term injury are the only problems that Owen Coyle has to bare in mind when selecting his first team of the 12/13 season. With Mears and Lee both available after recovering from long-term absences last term. As for Burnley, Marvin Bartley, Keith Treacy and Danny Ings are all definitely out of the game with Chris McCann facing a late fitness test. I personally think it’s too early to do ‘probable teams’.

Betting Tips

This season, I’m going to give myself 10 pounds to bet with, seeing what I end up with come the end of the season. Here’s week one.

£5.00 – Bolton Win (6/4)*

£2.00 – Petrov First Goal Scorer (10/1)*

£2.00 – Chung Yong Lee To Score Anytime (5/1)*

£1.00 – Bolton 3-0 Correct Score (25/1)*

*Best available prices.