One To Watch: Darren Pratley

It has been no secret that Bolton Wanderers struggles off the pitch has caused huge problems on it. They were rooted to the foot of the table prior to the weekend but a win against Queens Park Rangers has lifted them to 23rd.

Recently, with the promise of a buyer, the squad looks almost rejuvenated. Their young players such as Zach Clough and Josh Vela have all impressed in recent weeks but my one to watch for this upcoming game is the captain himself, Darren Pratley.

When your club is losing game after game, the morale around the team often depletes. It is understandable. But you need a player to take the bull by the horns and really drag his team from the depths of despair. I believe Pratley, in his role as club captain, has done this superbly. He not only has scored crucial goals such as the equaliser against Eastleigh to force the tie to a home replay, but he is always there making tackles and showing others that the fight is far from over.

Despite the odd wonder goal from his own half, he has not been known for his technical ability. He often wastes passes trying to play the long ball, but this has matured in his old age.. Sorry, I mean with increased experience. Pratley loves to pass the ball around and encourage his team mates to do the same but he also loves a good tackle. Despite, this he isn’t actually very good at it. In his 24 appearances, he has 56 fouls called against him and 6 yellow cards. They are often not even niggly fouls, they’re just mis-timed. However, it does show that he is willing to try and break up play.

He has scored 4 goals in the league this season; one every 6 games in which he has played. This is fairly good for a midfielder who’s team is bottom of the league and he does have the ability to knock one in from 40 yards as well as getting into the box for simple tap-ins.

I personally think that their attack and defence isn’t strong enough to withstand our players and therefore can see us winning. However, with the recent results against lower opposition, we cannot take anything for granted. I would like to see us attack at every opportunity with pace and utilize crosses more as this is a real strength of ours.