Ricketts ensures Bolton's smooth passage past Stockport

A burst of intensity before half-time and a late cameo from Michael Ricketts were more than enough for Bolton to make untroubled progress in a competition in which they have only a passing interest.

If Sam Allardyce's heart rate triples at crucial stages of Premiership matches ­ as a TV documentary about stress among football managers demonstrated this week ­ he barely registers on the graph for Cup ties. True to form, with a relegation battle at Middlesbrough on Saturday, only a handful of regulars were named for this game, with a few others asked to play unfamiliar roles.

Cynics might say that there could be no better place to field a weakened line-up than Stockport, where Carlton Palmer's clear-out has left them with something that looks suspiciously like a reserve team.

Their record of 12 defeats in a row going into this game was even worse than Bolton's 11 without a win and they were on their way to extending that run when Gudni Bergsson, one of Allardyce's few regulars on duty, got his head to Gareth Farrelly's cross and looped it over the experienced Andy Dibble.

Bergsson had been given an uncomfortable time before that by Stockport's raw-boned young striker, Kevin Ellison, but that goal quietened the home team considerably.

Six minutes later, Bolton were on their way to the fourth round, thanks to David Norris's shot and a big deflection off a defender that once more left the goalkeeper stranded. "We had a bit of luck with that,'' Allardyce admitted. "But once it went in it was a matter of time before we scored again.''

It took the introduction of Ricketts for the last 20 minutes to sharpen Bolton sufficiently to turn that prediction into reality. The striker's first involvement ended with a penetrative cross that was prodded home from close range by Henrik Pedersen, who had had a shot saved by Dibble's feet in the first half.

The one Ricketts scored himself, six minutes from the end, was as good as any he has put away during this productive season. Cutting in from the right, he used remarkable control to tie Palmer in knots and then picked his spot in the far top corner into which he curled his shot. "He scores all kinds of goals,'' Allardyce said. "Easy and brilliant. Anyone who sees that one will see why we keep pushing him for the England team.''

Stockport gained some hollow consolation when Nicky Southall handled in the last minute and John Daly put the penalty past the debutant goalkeeper Jani Viander, but they now revert to the apparently hopeless task of avoiding relegation.

Despite the ease of this win, that is where all Bolton's priorities lie as well. "Our biggest game is at Middlesbrough on Saturday,'' insisted Allardyce, although he faces a tricky tactical decision at White Hart Lane in the next round. Spurs hammered a Bolton side of similar strength to last night's 6-1 in the Worthington Cup, but that is unlikely to cloud his judgement.

Stockport County (3-5-2): Dibble; Clare, Palmer, Woodthorpe; Gibb, Riggs, Lescott, Fradin (S Taylor, h-t), Welsh (Helin, h-t); Daly, Ellison (Williams, h-t). Substitutes not used: Hancock, Turner (gk).

Bolton Wanderers (4-1-3-2): Viander; Southall, Bergsson (Nolan, h-t), Barness, Gardner; Farrelly; Johnson, Norris (C Taylor, 74), Hansen; Wallace (Ricketts, 70), Pedersen. Substitutes not used: Poole (gk), Buchanan.

Referee: U Rennie (Sheffield).