Andy Riedell, who joined Wigan Athletic at the age of twelve, had just graduated from a children's education school in Wigan, but his fame had already spread through Wigan.

Wigan Athletic noticed the teenager and brought him into the Wigan Athletic Under-16 squad for training, and four years later, Ridell had joined Wigan Athletic's Under-18 squad for just a year and a half, and at the age of 18, he was already in the first team of Wigan Athletic.

By now, Ridell has been playing for Wigan Athletic for eight years.

In eight years, eight seasons, no matter how good Ridell was and how many big clubs he noticed, he never had the intention of leaving the team, and this kind of heartfelt devotion to the club was unmatched by any other player who came to the team.

He's also very strong.

Since he became a regular player at Wigan Athletic at the age of 19, he has always played at the heart of the midfield and has never changed, and over the years, everyone who has come to the team has become accustomed to the presence of Riddle, he is the heart of the team, the soul of the team.

After Wigan Athletic was promoted to the first division, many media questioned that Ridell could still be the main player at Wigan Athletic last summer, after all, no matter how good he was, he never participated in the first division, but Ridell hit back at those who questioned him with his performance.

Fans are used to Riddle, teammates are used to Riddle, and even head coach Jewell is used to Riddle, and he knows very well that Wigan Athletic without Riddle will definitely drop a notch in overall strength.

Ridell also had a substitute.

That's the team's captain, Peter Kennedy. ，

Kennedy is thirty years old, he is older than Riddle, and he is also the old man of the team, so he is the captain of the team, but his strength is still much worse than Riddle, Kennedy replaced Riddle, Wigan Athletic's offense is much weaker.

Riddell was injured, especially before the big game against Bolton, and Jewell was so worried about it that he regretted sending Riedell on the field.

But he can't help it, he has to get his team ready for Bolton.

The League Cup reached the semi-finals, it is impossible to give up because of Riddle's injury, even if their strength declines, and Bolton Wanderers must strive for victory, as long as they can eliminate Bolton, then the team will step into the Cardiff Millennium Stadium, which is a huge benefit to the team and the club.

One is reputation, reaching the Carabao Cup final can attract the attention of all England and attract the attention of fans across England, and this intangible long-term benefit is something that the club must strive for.

Second, a win over Bolton Wanderers would give them a chance to qualify for next season's UEFA Cup.

According to the rules of the UEFA Cup in the major leagues, the winner of the League Cup has direct qualification for next season's UEFA Cup, and if the winner of the League Cup has European qualification (including the UEFA Champions Cup and the UEFA Cup, each team can only play one), then it will be pushed to the next place, which is the runner-up team.

The other Carabao Cup clash was between Arsenal and Middlesbrough.

Arsenal have been quite strong this season, they are unbeaten in the Premier League so far, have reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, and they have a very good chance of beating Middlesbrough to reach the Carabao Cup final, meaning that if the team can beat Bolton, they will meet Arsenal in the final.

Arsenal are top of the Premier League and even a poor second half of the schedule is enough to qualify for Europe by virtue of their league position.

That said, with a win over Bolton, Wigan Athletic will have a good chance of qualifying for next season's UEFA Cup, regardless of whether they win the Carabao Cup or not.

Wigan Athletic cannot afford to give up on Bolton Wanderers and they will have to work hard to knock them out.

According to the rules of the League Cup, the semi-finals are played home and away.

Wigan Athletic's draw is to play away games first, which is beneficial to Wigan Athletic, after all, the second game that decides the outcome is in front of their own goal, which is much better than going to the opponent's stadium.

A lot of media are also bullish on Wigan Athletic.

They knocked out several strong Premier League teams, including Chelsea, and won 10 in a row in League One, so it was not unusual for such a team to beat Bolton, so many people were watching the matchup, but when they heard that Andy Riddle was injured, they immediately changed their tune and lamented Wigan Athletic's bad luck.

It's really bad luck!

Before such an important game, the midfielder, the most important player of the team, was injured and could not play, which simply buried the suspense. In the eyes of the media, the strength of the two teams is about the same, in terms of momentum and schedule, Wigan Athletic is advantageous, but anyone who knows Wigan Athletic knows the importance of Riedell to Wigan Athletic, Riedell can't play, how much strength can Wigan Athletic play?

Everyone could only shake their heads.

They don't like Wigan Athletic at all.

……

Before the first round of the meeting, the media still did a lot of coverage, especially the Manchester County media, and the reason is that Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic are both Manchester County teams, and it couldn't be better to stage a Manchester civil war in the League Cup semi-finals.

This is a testament to the quality of Manchester's football!

Manchester has Manchester United, Manchester City, Bolton three Premier League teams, originally ahead of England, and only London as the capital can be compared, now the League Cup semi-finals, is another Manchester County civil war, the other team participating in the game, or the little-known Wigan Athletic, Manchester media are naturally very happy.

It's just that whether the game is good or not is a matter of two words.

They originally had great hopes, the strength of the two teams is about the same, this should be a key battle, but unfortunately Wigan Athletic's core is injured and cannot play, there is a big gap in the strength of the two teams, and the game is estimated to be no suspense.

It's pretty much what the media imagined......

At this time, on the outskirts of Manchester, on the Reebok Stadium, the match between the two teams has begun, and the time on the scoreboard shows that the game has reached the second half, and the score above is '2:0', no, it should be '3:0', just now, Bolton scored another goal and rewrote the score to '3:0'.

"Kevin—Nolan—"

“Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal！！！！！！”

There was a huge cheer at Reebok Stadium, and the on-site commentator shouted the name of the scorer, Kevin Nolan.

A muscular white player was raising his arms to greet the Bolton fans in the surrounding crowd and frantically celebrate the goal with his team-mates – Nolan's second goal of the game and Bolton's third, with which they had a three-goal lead over Wigan Athletic.

Look at the players at Wigan Athletic......

They were all disappointed, even Zhang Tiehan, he was worried about the team, and even worried about the next game, Bolton spent 70 minutes completely breaking them down.

He finally knew what it was like to be three goals behind Wigan Athletic.

Despair, helplessness, hesitation......

Everyone has this kind of expression, Zhang Tiehan is also very helpless, he worked hard for the whole game, but without Riddle, the team seems to have lost something, they can't play a decent attack, under the defense of Bolton's full-court pressing, they are powerless to fight back.

Zhang Tiehan wanted to rely on his own ability to do something, but he didn't have a chance at all, the football couldn't even pass half the court, his teammates lost the ball within a few kicks as soon as they got the ball, and he couldn't do anything under Bolton's offensive.

He worked hard throughout the first half.

In the second half, when he was two goals behind, he could only retreat to defend, otherwise he would be scored by the opponent again, and the suspense of the two rounds of confrontation would really be lost, but it was a pity that the opponent scored another one.

What's next?

Zhang Tiehan didn't know what to say, he couldn't accept this result at all...... His face was a little helpless, but his fists were clenched, he clenched all of them tightly, forced, then released, and then forced, his fingertips were already white, but he ignored it completely, just looked coldly at the direction of Bolton's half.

He knows exactly what three goals mean.

Back at home, the score will be like a boulder on the minds of every Wigan Athletic player, and as time goes on, the stone will get heavier and heavier, and there will come a moment when they will all be crushed.

At that point, what else is there to say about fighting for the elimination of Bolton?

Zhang Tiehan knew that there would be no hope for this game, even a draw was very luxurious, but in any case, a glimmer of hope should be reserved for the team, then at least the team had to score an away goal.

There has to be a goal!

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