Winger speaks to the official club website following Wanderers' 1-0 victory over Barnsley
With Wanderers picking up a late Christmas present at Oakwell on Boxing Day, Chris Eagles paid tribute to the club’s travelling supporters, claiming that they were instrumental in helping the team secure all three points against their Barnsley counterparts.
The winger, who put in a sterling performance against the Tykes, explained that the support shown by the large contingent of Bolton fans who made the trip to South Yorkshire on Thursday was certainly not wasted on him and his teammates.
“It’s been tough injuring my ankle at the beginning of the season and getting fit, but it’s nice to be back in the fold with everyone,” he said following the final whistle.
“The game was a prime example - the fans were brilliant and I’d like to thank them for that because they were right behind me.
“They’ve been brilliant – I watched a lot of games and they’ve been fantastic all throughout the season.”
He added: “We’ve had some bad results, but they’ve been behind us 100%. They showed that again today – they were like our twelfth man, carrying us on.
“They had a couple of chances in the first half, but nothing really to threaten us – it’s just proof that the singing and encouragement that the fans gave us helped us go on to win.”
With Neil Danns’ 64th minute strike condemning Barnsley to defeat in manager Danny Wilson’s first home game in charge, Eagles admitted that the game was one which the team were certainly not underestimating prior to kick off.
“It’s more difficult when they have got a new manager because they’re always looking to impress and the fans get behind them.
“The gaffer said at the beginning that they’re going to be up for it and they were, but as soon as that died off, because of our fitness we went up another gear.
“I don’t think that was our top gear, but it’s just nice to get a win. We slipped up against Wigan and got a draw last week at home that we should have won, but it just shows that with these kind of results we’re turning into positive things.
“Every point counts – we proved that last year with us missing out on goal difference, but I believe that we’ll be right up there.”
To watch Chris' full post-match interview, click on the video below.
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