JUST 12 years ago Bolton Wanderers hosted Sporting Lisbon in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup, today Newport County AFC will try and stop them getting off the mark in League Two.

Youri Djorkaeff, Jay-Jay Okocha, Nicolas Anelka and Ivan Campo used to ply their trade for the Trotters but things have changed at the University of Bolton Stadium, formerly the Reebok.

Financial difficulties have led to the Wanderers dropping down to the fourth tier and they head into this weekend's clash still looking for their first win of the season.

Ian Evatt left National League champions Barrow in the summer to take the reins and so far has suffered defeats to Forest Green Rovers and Colchester in League Two, a loss to Crewe in the EFL Trophy and another to Bradford City in the Carabao Cup.

Seeing such results is strange given the club feature in the 2011/12 edition of The Premier League Years on Sky Sports.

South Wales Argus:

"You look at the fixture list and in the next two games we've got Bolton and Newcastle, you'd think we are in the wrong league," said Newport boss Michael Flynn.

"It's good to get up to Bolton, I've still got a house close to the stadium (from his playing days in the north west of England) but I've never played there. It will be good to visit it and hopefully pick up the three points.

"It's sad what has happened to them. I remember Sam Allardyce having them in Europe.

"They have been struggling now for a few years but they have got plans to get back to where they were. It's a building project for them now, let's just hope they don't start building on Saturday."

County got a hint of what they will face last Saturday when they entertained the Barrow side that were guided to the EFL by Evatt.

"I played with Ian at Blackpool and I came up against him when he took over at Chesterfield. They went down that season but I thought he did a good job," said Flynn.

"It will be a tough game. We can expect Bolton to be similar to how Barrow played, because they have those traits from Ian last season."

South Wales Argus:

Bolton are looking for a boost, County are aiming to stay on a high.

The Exiles entertain Newcastle in the Caraboa Cup next week after upsetting Championship sides Swansea and Watford.

They started the league campaign with a draw at Scunthorpe that could, perhaps should, have been a win and then they earned three points against Barrow at Rodney Parade last weekend.

"I am not one to get carried away. We've got a really tough game against a Bolton side who played quite well against Colchester and maybe could have got something out of the game," said Flynn.

"They will be trying to make sure they get off to a better start than they did last week. They have good players and I know that they will hit form soon, I just hope it's after we play them.

"We are putting in good performances and have played against teams that are two leagues above us, one has just come down from the Premier League and the other got to the Championship play-offs.

"Those two teams will have good seasons in the Championship, no doubt, so it's good that we have managed to beat them. It's credit to the players."