Bolton Wanderers

Image source, Getty Images

Transfer deadline day is upon us and today is the final chance for your EFL club to finalise any business until January.

The transfer window closes at 23:00 BST, so we might have some late night scrambles to get deals over the line.

There has already been plenty of movement this summer and whether it's a busy or quiet day for your club, you will be able to keep across it all on BBC Sport.

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We asked for your views after Lincoln City claimed their first victory in the second tier of English football since April 1961 against Bolton Wanderers.

Here are some of your comments:

Bolton fans

Martin: We'll play worse this season and win. Jayden Nelson and Kyliane Dong both caused problems when they came on. We're not far off having a team to handle this division.

Paul: Having completely dominated the first half, but without converting any of the chances created, there was always the risk that Lincoln would pick up second half, which was aided by some very poor and inconsistent refereeing. No doubt we can finish better but we'll probably not play as well but win.

David: So plain to see that Bolton need strikers at this level but they leave it right to the close of the transfer window. Known all close season that strikers were needed so only until window shuts on Tuesday now.

Image source, Shutterstock

Lincoln fans

Ed: The Imps never really win pretty. They are a team with lots of determination and desire.

Tony: Imps rode their luck but these are the games need to win. No easy ones. Well, maybe Derby.

Paul: Just like last season, Lincoln set up NOT to lose and sat back all of the first half and the final minutes after they poached a goal with poor defending by Bolton.

Bolton Wanderers head coach Steven Schumacher says his side's 1-0 home defeat against Lincoln City in the Championship was "a tough one to take".

"We played really well today" Schumacher told BBC Radio Manchester.

"I thought what we asked the lads to do in areas we thought we could get into and cause Lincoln problems, we did that.

"We created loads of good opportunities and got into some dangerous areas. I said to them (the players) at half-time that the only negativity was that we were not ahead.

"We should have been ahead because we played that well. In the second half we had a ten-minute spell, where I thought a couple of decisions went against us. I thought a few of them were a bit soft.

"That gave them the momentum. Apart from that period I thought we were the better team."

Image source, Shutterstock

Bolton Wanderers boss Steven Schumacher has said the side still intend to make three more signings before the transfer window closes on Tuesday.

They have already signed 10 players this summer, having added forward Jayden Nelson on Wednesday.

"We are not done, we've got probably three to go," Schumacher said.

"It sounds a lot but it's important for us that we get a squad that is really capable of playing at this level."

Meanwhile, defender Akin Famewo is expected to be fit for the Championship game against fellow promoted side Lincoln City on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The 27-year-old had to come off at QPR last Saturday with a knock.

"It's not good when one of your players has to go off at half-time but he's trained today and says he feels fine," Schumacher said.

"That's a real positive for us."

Listen to the full interview below or on BBC Sounds here.

It is 42 years since Lincoln City last won a league game at Bolton Wanderers, which would have been at their opponents' former Burnden Park ground.

Bolton are unbeaten in their opening two games having followed Lincoln up from League One via the play-offs last season.

• Bolton were one of just two sides to avoid defeat by Lincoln City in the 2025-26 League One campaign (D2 – also Huddersfield Town), though they are winless in three against the Imps (D2 L1) since a 3-0 home win in December 2024.

• Lincoln are winless in each of their past seven away league games against Bolton (D2 L5), since a 2-0 win in February 1984 in the third tier.

• Bolton beat Preston 2-1 in their opening game and are hoping to win their first two home league games of a second-tier campaign for the first time since the 1996-97 season.

• After losing their opening two league games this season, Lincoln will be hoping to avoid losing their opening three fixtures of a league campaign for the first time since the 2008-09 season in the fourth tier.

• Bolton manager Steven Schumacher has never won a league game against Lincoln City in six previous attempts (D3 L3) – they are the only side he has faced more than three times without winning.

Image source, Getty Images

Bolton Wanderers have signed Austin FC forward Jayden Nelson for a fee the American side said could reach £1.64m ($2.34m) on a four-year deal.

The 23-year-old Canada international, who played once at this summer's World Cup, scored two goals in 13 MLS appearances for Austin after joining from Vancouver Whitecaps in January.

Nelson, who is Bolton's 10th summer signing, could make his Wanderers debut against Lincoln City on Saturday.

"I always wanted to play in the Championship. I know it's probably one of the most competitive leagues in the world," he told the club website., external

Bolton Wanderers are lining up a move for Austin FC winger Jayden Nelson. The 23-year-old Canadian international played at the summer's World Cup and has told his MLS club he wants to play in Europe. (The Athletic), external

Find more of Tuesday's EFL gossip here.

A two-year contract extension for Bolton Wanderers foward Ruben Rodrigues is a deserved reward for the player's performances, according to boss Steven Schumacher.

The 30-year-old scored twice in the Trotters' League One play-off final win against Stockport in May and this week agreed a new deal with the Championship club.

"He's been a really important player for us - we knew the quality he had and it was a brilliant bit of business for us in January," Schumacher told BBC Radio Manchester.

"He started the pre-season really well but then unfortunately picked up an injury, but we spoke last week and I said he deserves rewarding with a new contract and thankfully he's agreed to the terms."

Rodrigues injured his knee in the Carabao Cup defeat by Sheffield Wednesday on 8 August and missed the league win against Preston last weekend, but Schumacher is hopeful of having him back sooner than initially expected.

"He went to see a knee specialist and he was really pleased with the strengthening of the knee. He scanned it further and said there was no major damage so hopefully it's on the shorter end of the scale of the four-to-six-weeks prognosis," said Schumacher.

Bolton visit QPR in the Championship on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Listen to more Bolton Wanderers interviews and content on BBC Sounds.

Bolton won on their return to the Championship, but how can they compete with their big-spending rivals?

Listen to the newest episode of the 72+ podcast as Aaron Paul and Jobi McAnuff are joined by Bolton manager Steven Schumacher to break down the opening weekend of league fixtures in the EFL.

The panel also discuss Will Lankshear's dream start at Middlesbrough, how Southampton will deal with being pantomime villains after Spygate and whether VAR is needed in the Championship after a blatant handball helped West Bromwich Albion beat Norwich.

Plus, Jack Wilshere joins the pod after his Luton side came from 3-1 down to beat Reading in their opener, and he talks about his first pre-season as a first-team boss.

Listen to the full episode above or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to the brand new 72+ channel to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

These two sides both came away with victories on the opening day of the season with QPR winning 3-1 at Portsmouth and newly-promoted Bolton beating Preston 2-1.

It is seven years since they last met in the EFL.

• QPR have won five of their past eight league meetings with Bolton Wanderers, losing only once (D2) – that defeat did, however, come the last time the two teams met in March 2019.

• Only one of Bolton Wanderers' 17 away games against QPR in the Football League has ended in a draw (W6 L10) – they are hoping to win back-to-back league matches away to the R's for the first time.

• QPR will be hoping to win each of their opening two league games of a season for the first time since 2016-17.

• After winning on the opening day, Bolton will be hoping to win each of their opening two matches of a second-tier campaign for the first time since 1977-78 – a season which ended in promotion to the top flight.

• Bolton Wanderers' manager Steven Schumacher has faced QPR twice before, both times in the 2023-24 Championship season but with two different clubs; he drew 0-0 away with Plymouth in December 2023 before winning 1-0 at home with Stoke City in February 2024.

Wolves have entered the race for Brighton winger Amario Cozier-Duberry, 21, with the England under-20 international remaining a target for Rangers and former loan club Bolton. (The Argus, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Wednesday's gossip column here.

Kasey Smith
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Bolton returned to the Championship with a bang – and this was no scrappy win or game they simply edged.

Wanderers were in complete control for 80 minutes against a side that finished comfortably in 14th last season.

Of course, the overriding objective this season is to make sure we are here again next year. It is still very early days, but on this evidence, perhaps we can afford to aim a little higher.

If there was one major takeaway from the game, it was that Bolton are going to have plenty of opportunities in the Championship this year.

We are no longer the big fish in a small pond and I don't expect many teams to come to the Toughsheet Stadium with a low block and a determination to simply shut up shop.

Bolton have often struggled against sides who come to frustrate, but there should be far less of that this season. That could suit Wanderers.

Preston came to the Toughsheet looking to win, and they got burned. Bolton's defence did a superb job, catching North End offside seven times, while Wanderers were ruthless on the counter-attack.

There was plenty stacked against us going into the game. In-form Ruben Rodrigues was ruled out through injury, while our recent signings were unable to be thrown straight into the action. Yet several key players stepped up when it mattered most.

Ethan Erhahon hadn't played a minute of pre-season, yet he made the transition to the second tier look seamless.

Josh Sheehan, meanwhile, was excellent on his first appearance at this level.

Thierry Gale and John McAtee haven't always delivered the goods, but on this occasion, they produced exactly what was needed to get us over the line. Let's hope that is just the start.

The final 10 minutes did serve as a reminder of the demands of the Championship, but there is an important caveat.

Preston's best spell came only after Eoin Toal and new signings Samuel Iling-Junior, Lewis Brunt, Kyliane Dong and Ryan Hardie were introduced – none of whom had played many minutes in pre-season or had any time playing alongside each other.

That cohesion should only improve as the weeks go by.

And there is another reason for optimism. Of the sides promoted from League One over the past five seasons, only two have gone straight back down, with the last side being Wigan in 2023.

Without wanting to get carried away, I think Wanderers could shock a few people this season.

Steven Schumacher said after the win that we are in for an "exciting ride" this year and I think he was bang on.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Iceland striker Jon Dadi Bodvarsson has announced his retirement at the age of 34.

Bodvarsson scored four goals in 64 international appearances for Iceland and started the Euro 2016 match in which his country upset England 2-1 to advance to the quarter-finals, a result that led to Roy Hodgson's resignation.

The striker spent almost ten years in England, first at Wolves, and then Reading and Millwall, before a successful spell at Bolton between 2022 and 2024 where he scored 25 goals in 94 appearances.

He also played for Wrexham and Burton Albion before heading home to Iceland to return to his first club Selfoss.

Bodvarsson said in a statement on social media: "I want to thank all my managers, coaches, players and staff members that I've been grateful enough to have met and worked with. It was great sharing the highs and lows of football with you."