Bolton Wanderers took all three points against Millwall on Saturday afternoon, with a 2-1 victory over the Lions as Pawel Olkowski and Gary O’Neil grabbed the goals for the Whites.
When talking to bwfc.co.uk after the game, manager Phil Parkinson covered the following topics…
On his assessment of the game…
“Yes it was a key victory for us today.
Coming into the game, we spoke about drawing Millwall back into the relegation battle and that was the key part of today.
It was a hard fought win as it always is against Millwall and the first half was tight, but we probably had the better moments.
Then, in the second half, we came out in superb fashion.
We got the two goals and probably should have got a third but didn’t take those key chances.
We were disappointed to concede a goal, because Remi deserved a clean sheet.
All in all, it was a great days work and we are very pleased.”
On firmly deserving three points…
“I thought it was a good performance and everything we spoke about, we implemented it.
We knew they would be 4-4-2 and their midfielders will engage Connelly, O’Neil and Williams.
We wanted to get the ball into Sammy’s feet and and get it into those areas in behind – when we did that, we looked dangerous.
There were some big moments tonight and Gary O’Neil’s performance and goal were fantastic.
He defies his age with his running power every day in training and matches.
You get that when you have plied your trade in the Premier League for so long.”
On Pawel Olkowksi’s goal and performance…
“I am so pleased for Pawel, as he took his second goal of the season very well.
That will certainly lift him and that is key.
He has been affected recently with the off field issues and sometimes he doesn’t understand what is going on behind the scenes.
I had a good chat with him and his agent, who acted as an interpreter, just to explain what is going on in great detail.
On the defence coping with Millwall’s threats perfectly well…
“Millwall are a difficult team to play against because they get the ball into the box quickly and hit a lot of diagonals on you.
“I thought Beevers and Hobbs dealt with that brilliantly.”
On what this result does to the group…
“Listen, the lads care. There is no doubt about that in the slightest.
Last week at Swansea, it was one of the quietest coach journeys back I have been involved in – with the two sendings off and holding out for 80 minutes and then conceding.
We had to respond today and we did just that and we need to go again on Tuesday.”
On how today’s win lifted not just the team, but the fans…
“I could feel there was a lift prior to the game, with the positive news filtering around about the possibility of a takeover happening.
“The lads responded with a great performance and the fans applauded.”
On the big game against Sheffield Wednesday next Tuesday evening…
“Every game is vitally important now and we go into another home game next week thinking long and hard about the team selection.
“Once you have won on Saturday, everyone is looking forward to the next one.”