Mark Bonner could not hide his excitement when talking about his Cambridge side’s trip to the UniBol tonight.

The U’s arrive second in League Two with a fine season continuing thanks to a last-gasp 1-0 win against Walsall on Saturday.

Now it is time for a meeting between two sides who look like they will be in the promotion mix in a couple of months, the teams having drawn 1-1 in the reverse fixture at the Abbey Stadium back in October.

“When we played Bolton earlier in the season, we suspected they would go on a run at some stage,” the U’s head coach said.

“It’s come a little later after the January window, but let’s be honest they shouldn’t be at this level. But what a brilliant game to go and play in.

“It’s an opportunity for us to go to a super stadium and play on an excellent playing surface.

“Our aim, as always, is to go into the game and compete as best we can.

“Bolton tend to play in an expansive, aggressive way. They like to dominate with the ball, so our structure without the ball will matter, but it will come down to how much we can do when we have possession. How can we impact them.

“It should be two good teams going at it, and it’s a game I’m really looking forward to seeing how we can perform.”

The 94th-minute Walsall winner came courtesy of League Two’s top marksman Paul Mullin.

The striker now has 23 league goals this season and is one away from matching the club’s best ever in a league season by David Crown in the 1985-86 campaign.

“If I can get to it, it’s special isn’t it,” said the former Morecambe and Tranmere man, who will looking to hit 24 at the UniBol tonight.

“It’s something that’s obviously stood at the club for a long time. Hopefully I can go and put my name in something.

“I think it’d be lovely just to finish football one day, and look back and think ‘wow, I really achieved something there’.”

Mullin’s threat is one that Wanderers boss Ian Evatt is well aware of but he believes Cambridge have another dangerman he is all too familiar with.

“They’re dangerous, they’ve got some threats. Paul Mullin is having the season of his life, he scored an exceptional goal on Saturday,” said Evatt, adding: “A player that I played with, Wes Hoolahan, is a fantastically talented footballer.

“They’ve got some good players. We have to respect that, but also it’s about doing what we want.”