Owen Coyle says Bolton were deserved winners against Derby County
Owen Coyle said he was pleased with the way his team responded on Tuesday evening as the Whites scored two late goals to seal a deserved win against Derby County.
Kevin Davies and Chris Eagles netted in the final 15 minutes to get Bolton’s points tally for the season up and running.
Coyle said: “As much as we were only one game into the season, everyone was disappointed by our second half performance on Saturday. We were looking for a reaction tonight and I felt that we got it.
“The fans were always going to get nervous the longer the game stayed at nil-nil and it was always going to be an edgy game.
“I felt that we had a stonewall penalty in the first half when Mark Davies was tripped, but we never got it.
“In the second half, we came out and created numerous chances to go in front before we finally did. There were fantastic finishes from the skipper and Chris Eagles and we went from strength-to-strength.
“We could have had four or five goals tonight, but equally Derby had a couple of opportunities as well. Their goalkeeper can kick the ball the length of the field and that puts you under duress, but we stood up to that.
“There’s no doubt that we were worthy winners. We were pleased to get a shut-out and once again the fans showed how important they can be – they were very vocal tonight and really got behind the team.
“We will need that consistent high level of support because, as I have said before, when we bring it all together on-and-off the pitch it makes the Reebok a really difficult place to come to.
“If we stay strong and we stay together, as we have shown tonight, we can win these home games. Home form is going to be vitally important.
“We are back in tomorrow for our warm down and to start our preparations for Nottingham Forest, which will present us with another tough challenge.
“David Ngog did some training today under the supervision of the medical department and we will see how he is on Thursday.”