MATCHDAY LIVE: Wanderers 3 Birmingham City 1 (From The Bolton News)

4:56pm

All over. Deserved win for the Whites. Match report to follow.

4:53pm

Afobe on for Eagles, who also gets a great reception from the fans.

4:49pm

Alonso curls a free kick around the wall, which drops just wide.

4:48pm

Spearing gets a standing ovation as he is replaced by Butterfield.

4:47pm

He had stood in the way of Bogdan's kick, then barged into Ream... crazy stuff.

4:46pm

Zigic sent off for two bookable offences in a minute!

4:43pm

Chung-Yong corner headed well by Alonso but the ball drops a foot wide of the post with Butland beaten.

4:42pm

Wanderers deserve to be two up. They have played much the better football on the day.

4:42pm

Andrews casually put it into the top corner.

4:38pm

GOAL WANDS

4:37pm

Andrews to take

4:37pm

Handball by Caldwell as he jumped with Davies

4:37pm

PENALTY WANDS

4:31pm

Chungy blasts over from the angle. Game stretching a little bit now.

4:29pm

Pratley has been excellent so far.

4:28pm

Hall tests Bogdan from 20 yards after some sloppy stuff in midfield from Wanderers.

4:26pm

Hesitant stuff from Alonso results in a shot at goal from Burke. Safely gathered by Bogdan.

4:24pm

Would be a crime to throw this one away, considering how well the Whites have played in the last hour.

4:24pm

Warning shot from Birmingham as Burke slips Elliott through too easily on the right. Poor cross, though.

4:22pm

ATTENDANCE – 17,068

4:21pm

Eagles getting closer, fizzing a bouncing shot just wide from the edge of the box.

4:19pm

Good turn from Pratley and equally impressive block from Caldwell to stop his effort from testing Butland.

4:18pm

Spector off, Elliott on for Brum.

4:17pm

Eagles blasts one from 25 yards. Well wide.

4:13pm

Butland claims well again. This time a good cross from Mears, with Pratley loitering at the far post for an unchallenged tap in.

4:12pm

Great play from Pratley until the final ball. Looked like there may have been an opening for Davies.

4:10pm

Eagles has a shot charged down. Alonso follows up but his effort is high and wide.

4:08pm

Pratley gets on the end of a move he started but can't get a good connection on his header from Eagles' cross.

4:07pm

Mysterious booking for Chung-Yong being reported on the BBC website. Think they may have got that one wrong, they missed one for Hancox.

4:05pm

Second half underway. More of the same please.

3:48pm

And it's cheers and applause at the break. Well deserved 2-1 lead for Wanderers.

3:46pm

Dodgy offside given there against Pratley. Officials have otherwise been okay so far.

3:45pm

Wanderers need to hold out this lead now until the break. Few silly free kicks being conceded.

3:42pm

Alonso got a cut to his head going for the goal. Hopefully some Terry Butcher-esque photos to follow...

3:37pm

Butland tips Kevin Davies' shot just wide. Good ball from Spearing to set him free.

3:34pm

Great cross from Mears has Butland at full stretch to push away

3:33pm

Davies played a great ball through for Chung-Yong, who beat Caldwell for pace then danced around Butland before chipping the ball into the unguarded net. Great finish.

3:31pm

GOAL Wanderers

3:31pm

Wanderers now playing much more incisive football.

3:29pm

Fans in good voice now as Spearing's shot is deflected wide.

3:27pm

Wanderers deserved that. They had passed their way back into the game and that has completely changed the mood now.

3:26pm

Mears crosses left-footed and finds Alonso, who gets across his marker to head past Butland. Excellent finish.

3:25pm

GOAL Wanderers

3:22pm

Wanderers have neatened up in possession this last few minutes. Football is better.

3:22pm

Backheel by Davies into Eagles' path. He tried a cross/shot that whistled across goal without anyone close enough to get a touch.

3:20pm

Reebok not a happy place right now.

3:19pm

And more boos as another exchange of passes break down near the half way line.

3:14pm

And there are the first boos of the afternoon as Eagles wastes a chance to shoot and Birmingham clear their lines. 15 minutes played.

3:13pm

Good header in the end by Zigic but the cross should have been closed down quicker.

3:12pm

Especially disappointing considering Spearing had gone so close at the other end.

3:12pm

Yet another clean sheet up the swanny.

3:11pm

Burke's deep cross headed home at the far post by Zigic ahead of Knight, who took a bang for his troubles.

3:10pm

GOAL Brum

3:10pm

Dipping shot from Spearing goes just wide. All came about from Alonso's excellent cross. Davies headed back towards Pratley and Caldwell made a brave clearance.

3:08pm

Robinson playing right back, by the way. Chungy against him at present but not seeing much of the ball.

3:07pm

Bit of trickery from Eagles on the right. Brings the ball on to his left and hits a low shot, gathered easily by Butland.

3:07pm

Two very similar formations. Needs the tempo to pick up a bit, or this could be a case of cancelling each other out.

3:05pm

Good defending from Ream, who stuck with Burke and forced him out of play. That'll do his confidence no harm.

3:04pm

Bogdan diffuses a long ball from Hancox.

3:03pm

Hall swings a free kick in for Brum. Couple of good blocks from Wanderers. Corner.

3:01pm

Not so that shot from Zat Knight, which cleared the bar by miles...

3:00pm

Early exchange between Spearing, Davies and Eagles is encouraging.

2:58pm

Not a massive crowd by any stretch of the imagination. Around 1,000 Brum fans maximum.

2:56pm

Players now out on the pitch - after the tribute to Stevens, which is not the usual...

2:55pm

Minute applause for Dennis Stevens, who passed away recently.

2:49pm

Think this is an important game for Chris Eagles, too. He has looked quite tired in recent weeks, nowehere near where he was earlier in the season. Needs a goal, as one or two of you have pointed out.

2:47pm

With Zigic up front, he will give some much-needed aerial presence too. Ream struggled against Sheff Weds until Alonso came on.

2:46pm

Show of faith in Marcos Alonso at left-back today. Thought he was quite tidy on Boxing Day coming on off the bench.

2:36pm

Predictions continue to roll in from the fans. Largely positive, and very few believe we should be looking down rather than up.

2:35pm

2:35pm

Chungy better bring his best shinpads..

2:34pm

Brum lining up 4-5-1 today, with big man Nikola Zigic on his own up front. A return for Paul Robinson at the Reebok too. Hope he's lost none of his pace.

2:22pm

Just to explain a couple of the absences today - Ngog has twisted his ankle and Afobe has a slight hamstring problem but makes the bench. Andrews playing despite an Achilles issue.

2:21pm

2:16pm

2:16pm

2:16pm

2:15pm

So that's four changes for Wanderers - Marcos Alonso, Darren Pratley, Kevin Davies and Chung-Yong Lee in, Sam Ricketts, Benik Afobe, Martin Petrov and David Ngog out.

2:14pm

Today's teams: BWFC - Bogdan, Mears, Knight, Ream, Alonso, Andrews, Spearing, Eagles, Pratley, Chung-Yong, K Davies

Subs: Lonergan, Ricketts, Petrov, Afobe, Sordell, Riley, Butterfield

Birmingham City: Butland, Caldwell, Davies, Burke, Mullins, Zigic, Spector, Hancox, Hall, Robinson, Reilly

Subs: Doyle, Ibanez, Elliott, Gordon, Jervis, Redmond, Delfouneso

1:58pm

1:58pm

1:58pm

I asked you on Twitter what the current state of play is at Wanderers, and whether you had predictions for 2013...

1:50pm

I wouldn't argue with that. I'm not as down on Adam Bogdan as some, but think defensive recruitments are an absolute must.

1:49pm

So no defeatist talk in the dressing room...

1:49pm

"I'm as hungry as every to do well. I'm still loving my role at the club. People talk about age but I'm still playing games and feeling good. Hopefully, I am able to play my part in helping the side climb the table into the play-offs and then possibly the top two."

1:48pm

Kevin Davies also chipped in with some interesting stuff in his programme notes...

1:46pm

"I know we have the ability in our squad to make this happen, and so we head into the New Year in a really positive frame of mind."

1:45pm

"Our target is to be in the top half of the table by the end of January. At that point I want the teams above us to be looking over their shoulder knowing Bolton Wanderers are making a charge for the top of the league."

1:44pm

Interesting stuff from Freedman in his programme notes...

1:42pm

That quarter-final clash seems a long, long time ago now, doesn't it?

1:41pm

That said, I thought they were worth the three points back in September. Dodgy penalty or not, they played quite well that night.

1:40pm

Birmingham haven't had much to shout about either in 2012. Money troubles, talk of takeovers and the sale of top players has dominated the agenda at St Andrew's.

1:39pm

We seem to have said it so many times this year, but IF Wanderers get on a charge, then who knows?

1:38pm

But... and this is an important but, it can all change with a single win.

1:37pm

Fabrice, Relegation, Championship failure - and all the financial issues that went with it - there hasn't been much cheer around this neck of the woods just recently.

1:35pm

This is the last game of 2012, a year in which sporting excellence has been celebrated up and down the country, but not so much here in Bolton... It's been a terrible 12 months.

1:34pm

Pitch looks in good nick. No suggestion there will be any issue with the weather, so that's one less thing to worry about...

1:33pm

Good afternoon. Bring your brolly if you are heading to the Reebok!