Another night of stress-free excitement tonight. We love to see the kids play and we love to see them beat PL opposition even more.

Of course we have selection problems due to some of the second string being forced to become first string. For example, who plays RB? Can we rest both our CB? Is Squillaci fit and if so does he play?

Dare I suggest that we can concentrate on the league now? No? Didn't think so. Nevertheless, we are out of the Carling Cup thanks to a 2-0 loss at home to Bolton in what, by all accounts, was an utterly dismal performance.

Chris Eagles picked up on a Marc Albrighton mistake to score a screamer from 20 yards.

They won't be smiling tonight... we hope.

Starting Lineups
Bolton Wanderers: Bogdan, Riley, Wheater, Knight, Alonso, Eagles, Petrov, M Davies, Pratley, Tuncay, Blake
Macclesfield Town: Veiga, Tremarco, Kay, Brown, Chalmers, Draper, Sinclair, Diagne, Brisley, Wedgbury, Hewitt

The obligatory Owen Coyle photo

The cup season is upon us once again as Bolton Wanderers open the Carling Cup against Macclesfield Town at the Reebok. The Silkmen of League Two downed Hull City by a score of 2-0 to reach the second round. Bolton will look to do better than they did last year when they were ousted by Burnley in the third round.

Skysports.com understands Bolton Wanderers have made a bid to sign Liverpool striker David Ngog.
Bolton boss Owen Coyle is in the market for attacking additions after Daniel Sturridge returned to Chelsea after an impressive loan spell and Johan Elmander joined Galatasaray.
Turkish forward Tuncay is close to finalizing a loan move to the Reebok Stadium and Coyle is now stepping up his interest in Ngog.

The tenacious Turkish midfielder has agreed terms

Doesn't that just feel good to say? Tuncay has undergone a medical with Bolton Wanderers and the signing is due to be announced at any point. There are no official word on terms of the deal yet but what we can gather is a year long loan from Wolfsburg of the Bundesliga with an option to make the move permanent that's in the region of £3 million.

Bolton manager Owen Coyle has admitted that his side would like to sign Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, although raised concerns over the player's wages.

Wright-Phillips hasn't seen much playing time at Manchester City since returning from Chelsea, and would be a welcome addition at the Reebok Stadium as Coyle builds another strong Bolton side.

According to Luke Edwards at The Journal, Sunderland manager Steve Bruce will be looking to sign a new striker to replace the recently departed Darren Bent.

Sunderland looked at signing Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor on loan but were put off by his wages.

Off The Ball never rests in its mission to scratch around the underbelly of professional football to find the most bizarre, humorous and inexplicable stories.

This week, Wesley Sneijder attempts to sweet talk Jose Mourinho at FIFA's awards gala, Tuncay hawks his wares on Facebook, Edin Dzeko scores an own goal at Manchester City, FIFA bend over backwards for Qatar and the greatest goal in the world.

Turkey international picks his top 10 goals Bit-part Stoke player Tuncay has uploaded a compilation of his top 10 career goals on his Facebook page amid rumours he wants to attract potential bidders before the end of the transfer window. The Turkish striker's 11-minute video includes footage of goals for Fenerbahce, Stoke, Middlesbrough and his [.

Manchester United moved three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League after a 2-1 victory against Stoke City.

With City and Arsenal, two points behind City in third, meeting on Wednesday, United were in a fine position to open up a cushion. They took 27 minutes to unlock Stoke's defence, a crisp passing move ending with Javier Hernandez's sublime back-heel converting Nani's low ball from the right.

Manchester United moved three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League after a 2-1 victory against Stoke City.

With City and Arsenal, two points behind City in third, meeting on Wednesday, United were in a fine position to open up a cushion. They took 27 minutes to unlock Stoke's defence, a crisp passing move ending with Javier Hernandez's sublime back-heel converting Nani's low ball from the right.