ACCRINGTON Stanley have stepped in to face Preston in a friendly on Tuesday night after Bolton were forced to cancel their game against the Lilywhites.

Wanderers were set to meet North End in a pre-season match at Lancashire FA headquarters in Leyland.

But their on-going off-the-field problems mean they will be unable to fulfil the fixture having already cancelled a game against Chester due to a player strike, the Whites in administration and set to start life in League One after relegation on at least minus 12 points.

Stanley will now take the date and face Alex Neil’s side in a 7.45pm kick-off as part of their build-up to the new season.

PNE finished 14th in the Championship last season and have several former Reds players in their ranks including Connor Ripley, Sean Maguire and Louis Moult.

Tickets for the game are available on the night and are priced adults £10 and over-65s and under-16s £5.

“Bolton Wanderers can confirm they will not be taking part in the scheduled friendly fixture against Preston North End on Tuesday,” read a statement from the Whites released on Saturday.

“The football club would like to apologise for any inconvenience this will cause.”

The new game means John Coleman’s side now have two games in two days with a trip to BetVictor Premier Division side Warrington Town up first on Monday night.

It's part of a busy schedule after a young Stanley side including a host of triallists went down 1-0 at Welsh Premier League side Bala Town on Saturday.

Mike Hayes scored the only goal of the game for the hosts who had former Reds favourite Lee Molyneux in their line-up.

New signing Colby Bishop was among the players to feature for the Reds at Maes Tegid.