Whites vice-captain revels in Wigan victory
Matt Mills was thrilled with the emphatic manner of Wanderers’ victory over local rivals Wigan Athletic, suggesting it signals a real sign of intent from Neil Lennon’s side.
The defender won a second-half penalty for the Whites that allowed Lee Chung-Yong to step up and score Bolton’s third of the night, adding to earlier strikes from Max Clayton and Craig Davies.
And while Callum McManaman pulled a goal for Wigan, the Trotters held on to secure their second home win in the space of four days, with Mills sharing his belief after the match that Wanderers are going from strength-to-strength under their new manager.
“We’re delighted, it was a massive game for us and it felt like an emphatic win,” said the Wanderers vice-captain. “We’ve worked so hard in recent weeks to get wins to get us in a position to get out of the bottom three and that was the case tonight.
“We’re growing in confidence. It was a good test for us. Wigan came here and gave it a right good go in the first half. I said to Dannzy in the first half we just need to see this little period out.
“It was a case of staying in the game, waiting for it to die down a little bit and then getting our ball players on the ball and causing damage. We did that and as a result had that 10-15 minute spell in the second half when we were simply fantastic.”
Mills continued: “There are some very good teams in this league, but we’re in the mind-set now when we don’t fear playing anybody.
“The manager has put a big emphasis on it not being about what anyone else is doing, but it being about what we’re doing.
“It’s definitely a changing room that believes we can win any game we go into now. We’ve scored six goals in two games at home now and that breeds real confidence.
“Hopefully it sends out a message to the rest of the league that we really mean business.”