Manager keen for players to focus on matters on the field ahead of Sheffield Wednesday trip
Amid an increasing amount of speculation off the field, Neil Lennon says he and his players must focus on what they can control ahead of Tuesday night’s trip to Sheffield Wednesday.
Bolton head to South Yorkshire on the back of a 1-1 draw away at Eastleigh in the third round of the Emirates FA Cup.
And speaking ahead of the game at Hillsborough the manager reiterated the need for everyone to keep their minds focussed on the task at hand.
“At the moment, we’re planning for the games with the squad we had at the weekend,” the manager said in his pre-match press conference. “There are no fresh injury concerns following the Eastleigh game.
“That could clearly change at any moment, because transfer deals could happen or fall through. We were obviously without Mark Davies and Zach Clough on Saturday.
“Yes, of course it is difficult to prepare for games not knowing which players will be available, but that’s where we are at this moment in time. We’ve just got to get on with it and attempt to keep everyone’s morale up.
“We’re a football club and there are football games to be played. The situation off the pitch is one that I and the players can’t control, we just have to focus on what we can do.
“We had a long trek to Eastleigh at the weekend and the game was played on a difficult pitch. The players were back in on Sunday for a recovery session and we’ll do something similar today (Monday).”
Wednesday, under the guidance of Portuguese head coach Carlos Carvalhal, currently sit seventh in the Sky Bet Championship table and have lost just once at home all season.
But Bolton have an impressive recent record at Hillsborough, winning on each of their last four visits to South Yorkshire.
Lennon added: “Sheffield Wednesday are a very good side and they’ve invested in their squad significantly. They are clearly having a real go this season and they have quality players at this level.
“Gary Hooper is obviously someone I know very well and we did try to bring him to Bolton a while back now. He’s Premier League quality and someone we will have to watch closely.
“We know it is going to be a real test for us but we’re fully focussed on what we know we can do.”
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