When us fantasy managers begin to get excited about Bolton’s players you just know we’re talking about another flat Premiership Saturday. A horrible 1-1 draw at Stoke, a pair of blanks at Villa Park and the Riverside and it’s humble returns all round. Here’s the notes…

The Lineups

Starting at Villa Park and O’Neill was forced into one change to his side from the one that took the field against United last time out. Reo-Coker missed out with flu so Cuellar returned at right back. Fulham were unchanged yet again.

Kinnear made one enforced change to his Newcastle side for the trip to the Riverside. Duff was out with a groin injury, so in came N’Zogbia on the left of midfield. Taylor was fit for Newcastle but couldn’t displace the impressive Coloccini/Bassong partnership at the back. Viduka was back in contention and appeared from the bench late on. Southgate also made one change, O’Neil missed out with a hamstring injury so Arca got a start in midfield. Mido was back to fitness and on the bench.

Ryan Shawcross missed out for Stoke City with a back injury, so Pulis handed Cort a start in his defence. Fuller returned from suspension to replace Kitson up front who missed out with a knee injury. Griffin started despite his hand injury. Phil Brown handed Nicky Barmby a rare start, dropping Cousin to the bench. Dawson missed out again for Hull with his Achilles injury so Ricketts earned another start.

Keane dropped Anton Ferdinand to the bench for the visit of Bolton. Chimbonda came into the defence then with Ferdinand left on the bench. Gordon returned in goal having recovered from his ankle injury that had seen him miss six games. Megson named an unchanged side for Bolton.

Steve Bruce brought Boyce back into his lineup at centre back, dropping Scharner to the bench. Taylor remained at right back despite the return of Melchiot. He started on the bench but replaced a disgruntled Taylor late on. Camara won a starting role having scored the winner against Everton. Kapo made way for him. Mowbray brought in Morrison who returned from injury. Kim dropped out. Barnett returned to fitness and won a place on the bench, joining Filipe Teixeira who recovered from injury to claim a place in the squad.

The Form

For the second week running, it was Bolton’s attacking players that shone on another limp day for goals in the Premiership. Taylor, Elmander and Steinsson all gathered points, while Cahill netted a goal and maximum FPL bonus for a second week running. Taylor’s goal was his third in the last 4 games, while Elmander also struck his third and fourth goals of the season, having scored last weekend at Hull. While this is bound to rouse plenty of fantay interest – a word of warning here – Bolton’s fixtures do not lend themselves to continued returns. It’s Chelsea, Villa and Liverpool over the next 4 games.

Sunderland are in real trouble now having lost 5 of the last 6. Cisse remains the one glimmer of hope for them – he hit his sixth goal of the season today, his third in 4 games. With a trip to Old Trafford coming next however, further investment is perhaps unwise in the short-term.

Fulham once again provided frustration for another of the Premiership’s top sides. It seems these days, it’s just not worth backing goals against this Fulham side who have now conceded just 5 goals in their last 9 Premiership games. The likes of Paintsil and Hangeland should remain popular budget purchase in fantasy backlines then. In attacking terms however, they are still struggling – it’s just 2 goals in their 7 away games so far this term. The likes of Johnson and Zamora will be looking to increase their output over their next two home games against City and Boro. Johnson in particular, could be worth considering in the short-term.

A frustrating day for owners of Ashley Young and Agbonlahor then. O’Neill’s side are still struggling to break sides down at Villa Park. It’s just 6 goals in the last 6 home games – 1 goal in the last 3. Defensively however, Villa remain strong. Today was their third consecutive clean sheet. With fixtures remaining strong over the coming weeks, this could continue and attacking returns should pick up. Gareth Barry is one worth watching in the games to come – he appears to be bombing forward more often from Villa’s five man midfield. While Carew remains absent, he could be worth a look.

Fuller and Camara scored goals to earn some attention from those managers seeking a budget solution up front. Marlon King also put himself in the reckoning in that bracket with his fourth goal of the season. Camara is certainly just a short-term measure with Zaki likely to return imminently. Fuller and King look evenly matched. Geovanni owners may wish to look at Fuller for some variation, although King’s fixtures look slightly stronger in the short-term.

Defensively, Newcastle’s back four must now come into consideration off the back of 3 clean sheets in the last 5 games. Bassong at just 4.0 in the FPL could well be a bargain purchase in the making – he appears to have stolen a march on Taylor as the partner to Coloccini. What’s more, Newcastle’s fixtures could be a lot worse (STK, por, TOT) over the next few weeks.

Injures and Bans

Geovanni picked up a knock late on and was subbed on 90 minutes.

Matt Taylor picked up a thigh injury and replaced at half-time. Megson doesn’t seem too concerned about it at this stage, describing it as a “slight” problem.

Sunderland’s Kieran Richardson will face a one match ban having picked up his fifth yellow today. He will miss the trip to Old Trafford next weekend.