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Neil Lennon called for his side to make home advantage count once again when Wanderers entertain Leeds United this weekend.
Entering the clash with Neil Redfearn’s men on a seven-game unbeaten run at Macron Stadium, Saturday’s match could see the Whites rise as high at eleventh in the Sky Bet Championship league standings with victory over their Elland Road counterparts, pending other results.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference however, the manager stressed the importance of his side not allowing complacency to set in ahead of this weekend’s meeting.
“It’s a big game for us,” said Lennon. “Everything in the garden seems rosy, but the fact that we lost to Huddersfield at the back end of December leaves us six points off the bottom three.
“That said, we are still looking up the table at a potential play-off place, so we need to win the next two games going into the Liverpool match.
“Everybody is looking forward to the Liverpool game and we’ll be going there to compete against a great side, but the players’ focus must be on the next two fixtures.”
He continued: “Home advantage is going to be important when it comes to Leeds this weekend, but they’ve got a good manager who knows the club inside out and that will be dangerous.
“They’re a huge club and they will bring a huge support, so the atmosphere should be red hot.
“They’re in a bit of a transitional period at the moment, but I think they have the right man in charge in Neil Redfearn because he knows the club and the players inside out. He will make Leeds better, so we have to be mindful of that.”
The Bolton boss also paid tribute to Andrew Lonergan following the shot-stopper’s nomination for the Sky Bet Championship December Player of the Month accolade, with the goalkeeper in contention to line up against his former employers this weekend.
“We’ve got two superb goalkeepers – Adam Bogdan needed game time following his injury and did brilliantly against Wigan last weekend, but Andy has been fantastic and is quite rightly in contention for Player of the Month.
“I honestly think he is one of the best goalkeepers in the Championship alongside Adam too.
“As a whole though, the players themselves have turned it around in recent months – we have very good players at this football club.
“They’re all very good professionals and we feel as though we’ve inherited a very good bunch of players and they’re starting to play at their level now.”
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Entering the clash with Neil Redfearn’s men on a seven-game unbeaten run at Macron Stadium, Saturday’s match could see the Whites rise as high at eleventh in the Sky Bet Championship league standings with victory over their Elland Road counterparts, pending other results.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference however, the manager stressed the importance of his side not allowing complacency to set in ahead of this weekend’s meeting.
“It’s a big game for us,” said Lennon. “Everything in the garden seems rosy, but the fact that we lost to Huddersfield at the back end of December leaves us six points off the bottom three.
“That said, we are still looking up the table at a potential play-off place, so we need to win the next two games going into the Liverpool match.
“Everybody is looking forward to the Liverpool game and we’ll be going there to compete against a great side, but the players’ focus must be on the next two fixtures.”
He continued: “Home advantage is going to be important when it comes to Leeds this weekend, but they’ve got a good manager who knows the club inside out and that will be dangerous.
“They’re a huge club and they will bring a huge support, so the atmosphere should be red hot.
“They’re in a bit of a transitional period at the moment, but I think they have the right man in charge in Neil Redfearn because he knows the club and the players inside out. He will make Leeds better, so we have to be mindful of that.”
The Bolton boss also paid tribute to Andrew Lonergan following the shot-stopper’s nomination for the Sky Bet Championship December Player of the Month accolade, with the goalkeeper in contention to line up against his former employers this weekend.
“We’ve got two superb goalkeepers – Adam Bogdan needed game time following his injury and did brilliantly against Wigan last weekend, but Andy has been fantastic and is quite rightly in contention for Player of the Month.
“I honestly think he is one of the best goalkeepers in the Championship alongside Adam too.
“As a whole though, the players themselves have turned it around in recent months – we have very good players at this football club.
“They’re all very good professionals and we feel as though we’ve inherited a very good bunch of players and they’re starting to play at their level now.”
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