By Mark Heys
March 16 2007

Bolton Wanderers must give all they have if they are to stand any chance of beating near neighbours Manchester United at Old Trafford this Saturday lunchtime.

The Trotters have recorded memorable victories away at United in seasons gone by but the latest fixture coming up sees the Mancunians looking to record their sixth straight league victory to push themselves further ahead in the Premiership title race.

Back in October the Red Devils defeated Bolton quite convincingly thanks largely to a strong first half performance and a clinical hat trick from England striker Wayne Rooney.

It would be fair to say that Sir Alex Ferguson's team have hardly wavered since then as they still find themselves in three major competitions, including the Champions League and FA Cup.

Bolton have recorded just two league wins since the New Year began and they currently find themselves on the back of three straight defeats having lost to Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Blackburn Rovers.

Wanderers are likely to welcome back their influential striker Kevin Davies after six weeks out of action with a foot injury and defender Abdoulaye Meite will be available again after a one game ban.

United have a number of injuries for the visit of the Wanderers as goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar, full back Patrice Evra and midfielder Darren Fletcher join strike duo Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the sidelines.

Mickael Silvestre is now out for the season and Paul Scholes is still banned so the Red Devils are down to the minimum meaning there could be possible chances for the likes of Alan Smith and Kieran Richardson.

Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic where all considered to be slightly doubtful, but the trio are more than likely to play for the hosts after all.

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)

01/04/2006 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (Davies) MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Saha, Van Nistelrooy)

28/10/2006 BOLTON WANDERERS 0 MANCHESTER UNITED 4 (Rooney 3, Ronaldo)

PREMIERSHIP FORM GUIDE:

Played: 15

Won: 2

Drawn: 4

Lost: 9

CONNECTIONS

John Ball, Peter Barnes, Peter Beardsley, Wyn Davies, Tony Dunne, Quinton Fortune, Alan Gowling, Brian Kidd, Harry McShane, Willie Morgan, John O’Kane, 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.

Wayne Rooney scored a hat trick for United when these two sides last met in October 2006. At the time the England striker was going through a supposed dip in form