Owen Coyle has called for his side to react in the best possible way against Derby County on Tuesday evening
Owen Coyle has called for his squad to react to their second half performance at Burnley by flying out of the traps against Derby County this coming Tuesday.
Wanderers’ first game in the second tier since 2001 ended in a 2-0 defeat at Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon.
Martin Paterson, a player Coyle signed during his time with the Clarets, controversially nodded the hosts in front prior to the break before Charlie Austin doubled the lead on 57 minutes.
And speaking in his pre-match press conference, the manager stressed the importance of a positive response against Derby.
“We need a big positive reaction to our second half performance on Saturday,” he explained. “We have to be ready for how tough and demanding the Championship is and ready for how hard teams work. If we match that, then we believe we have enough quality to win these games.
“Derby are a good side with some terrific players, as they’ve shown in the opening games of the season. They’ve scored a lot of goals, in the cup tie against Scunthorpe and the weekend’s game against Sheffield Wednesday.
“We have to make sure we’re ready for the challenge they pose, but equally, that we’re ready to impose ourselves. If we do that, it’s a game I’m convinced we can win.”
Two games in the space of four days present Bolton with an opportunity to catapult themselves up the Championship league table.
After Tuesday’s game against Derby, Nottingham Forest and the Sky television cameras visit the Reebok Stadium on Friday evening with the manager keen to reward the fans for their continued support.
Coyle added: “These are two massive home games. We have to pick ourselves up and make sure we’re ready to win the points.
“We had 3,600 fans at Turf Moor on Saturday – it felt more like 15,000 because of the backing they gave the players. It’s now up to us to show how much we value the support, by going out there and bringing it all together and winning football games.
“There’s no doubting that we need to improve coming into this home game against Derby County. We’ll take the positives from the Burnley game and look to pick up three points on Tuesday evening that will put us right back in the mix.”
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