Bolton Wanderers have confirmed their first four fixtures of their pre-season schedule ahead of the new League One season.
Wanderers finished last season ninth in League One and are aiming to build on that positive result as a newly promoted team in the 2022/23 campaign. The club is aiming to mount a promotion charge and target the top six at least.
The Whites are due to return for pre-season training on June 17, before jetting out to Portugal for a training camp a few days later on June 19. Wanderers boss Ian Evatt has said he hopes to have the squad fundamentally in place by the start of pre-season in terms of getting their transfer window business done early.
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Wanderers are not playing games while out in the Algarve. Instead it is purely a pre-season training camp to help prepare for the new campaign and build team spirit, morale and bond.
Evatt said: "Firstly, thank-you to Sharon and the board for enabling me to take the players away. It’s a good first week, to get them away, to get them 24 hours a day, to have their focus and to get some real detail and fitness work into them.
“And also for team spirit, team morale and team bonding. It’s a really good thing, so we’re really looking forward to that.
“It seems to be coming around really fast. The days keep ticking away but I can’t wait to get started again.”
Wanderers will be back into their pre-season fixture schedule upon their return from the Iberian Peninsula. And their first four games of around half a dozen confirmed so far have now been announced.
The Whites will begin their pre-season prep with a clash at Longridge Town on Tuesday, 28 June, the same way they began ahead of the 2020/21 campaign, with a 7.45pm kick-off. Wanderers then go to Chorley on Saturday, 2 July for their traditional pre-season game at 2pm.
The Whites then visit Oldham Athletic on Tuesday, 12 July, for a 7.45pm start to face John Sheridan’s side which is gearing up for a first season in the National League. And the last of the first four fixtures released to date will see Wanderers take a side to National League North outfit Southport on Tuesday, 26 July, with a 7.30pm kick-off – four days before the start of the EFL season.
More pre-season fixtures - for both the first and B teams - will be announced in due course. All four fixtures currently announced are on the road and the club is yet to announce any games taking place at the University of Bolton Stadium.
The new League One season kicks off at the end of July, with the fixtures being revealed on Thursday, June 23. The season start date is earlier than usual due to the World Cup taking place over the winter in Qatar.
