Why Bolton Wanderers, Portsmouth & Ipswich Town could have trips to Stoke City or Leicester

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Bolton Wanderers are preparing for a second season in a row under Ian Evatt and seeking to mount a promotion push in earnest next campaign.

Wanderers finished ninth in the third tier of English football this campaign with a total of 73 points, a fine achievement for a newly promoted side.

A total of 73 points would in most seasons be enough to have the Whites in and around the top six, but the high standards in League One this campaign meant that Bolton were 10 points behind sixth placed Wycombe Wanderers.

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Evatt admits that his side was perhaps not ready to reach the Championship this season on and off the pitch, but has vowed they will be in the future.

Next season, the likes of Wanderers, Portsmouth, Ipswich Town and the rest of the division will be taking on Derby County after the Rams were relegated from the Championship.

But whether the Whites and the rest of the division will be heading to Pride Park remains up in the air at the moment.

American businessman Chris Kirchner is keen to complete a takeover of the club that has been in administration for almost eight months.

But a stumbling block at this moment in time is the ownership of Pride Park, which is owned by former Rams chairman Mel Morris who separated it from the club back in 2018.

Given the stadium is separate from the administration process a deal needs to be struck with Morris and negotiations are said to be ongoing.

With that in mind, it has been reported by our colleagues at DerbyshireLive that if there is no resolution then Derby could look to play their home games away from Pride Park with Leicester's King Power Stadium and the bet365 Stadium