Wanderers might have looked at a home game against Leeds United’s kids as a banker when the group stages of the Papa Johns Trophy were drawn.
Landing League Two opposition in Tranmere Rovers and Crewe Alexandra, Bolton’s final qualifying game appeared the least daunting of the lot, until Leeds handed in their team-sheet at Prenton Park for their opener on October 4.
Boasting an incredible £13.45million in transfer fees between them, and with appearances in this season’s Champions League and Premier League, Leeds went on to win the game 5-3, despite playing the last 21 minutes with 10 men after a red card for Sam Greenwood - who will miss the trip to Wanderers as a result.
Wanderers have taken four points from their opening two games and must beat the Elland Road youngsters to be completely sure of their progression to the knockout stages.
The club has reduced ticket prices to £5 for adults and £1 for concessions to try and tempt supporters in for what is rarely a well-attended competition, at least in its early rounds.
Indeed, for the 4-1 victory against Crewe the crowd was just 2,115, the lowest since last November when Bolton hosted Fleetwood in last season’s Papa Johns Trophy.
Leeds’ Under-21s compete in Premier League 2 Division Two and top the table with six wins and a draw from their opening seven games.
Ex-Espanyol striker Mateo Joseph and former West Ham man Sonny Perkins are among the top scorers in the league, with 15 shared between them.
Leeds also have within their ranks the highly-rated Liverpudlian striker Joe Geldhardt, who signed from Wigan Athletic in 2020 and has already made 20 appearances in the top flight, scoring twice, and has also been involved with the England squad at youth level.
The Under-21s' last outing was against Sunderland where a goal from £5million Italy Under-21 international Wilfried Gnonto was enough to take the points.
The 4-4-2 line-up that day was very similar to that which faced Tranmere at the start of the month and will probably be the framework for Ian Evatt’s preparations on Tuesday night.
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