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Jimmy Phillips has challenged his players to stand up and be counted at Derby today and delay what looks like the inevitable relegation to League One.
With no away win all season, the Whites are huge underdogs to shock the promotion-chasing Rams but Phillips says the preparation since Tuesday’s defeat at Brentford has been good.
And he wants his squad to play with pride and show they are better than their lowly league position.
Phillips told The Bolton News: “It will be a full house at the iPro Stadium and a great game for our players to play in.
“It will be one where they need to stand up and be counted.
“It is going to be a difficult afternoon for us but if we are disciplined and committed we can hopefully get something out of the game.
“We came in on Wednesday and watched the Brentford game back and picked out where we need to improve.
“We felt we did show an improvement in the second half and have worked on potential situations that may come up at Derby.
“So the players will have had good preparation by the time we kick off at Derby and we’re hoping they can get a positive result.”
Phillips accepts the challenge of facing a Derby side that beat fellow high-flyers Hull City 4-0 on home soil is not an easy one.
But he dismisses suggestions the underdog tag means there's no pressure on a Whites team expected to be relegated by full time.
He said: “I don’t think it takes pressure off that we are not expected to get anything – certainly not as staff because we want to go into every game as prepared as we can be and first and foremost not to get beat.
“The pressure is still on us as professional people who want to win.
“Derby spent a lot of money last summer to strengthen their squad.
“They have a lot of very good attacking players and we know it will not be easy.
“But we still have that desire to win as you would expect.
“In two out of the three games we have played since I have been doing the job we have found ourselves with a mountain to climb after 20 minutes.
“The Reading game was different and we have to take into the Derby game the resilience we showed against Reading when we went down to 10 men – that work rate and commitment made us competitive.”
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With no away win all season, the Whites are huge underdogs to shock the promotion-chasing Rams but Phillips says the preparation since Tuesday’s defeat at Brentford has been good.
And he wants his squad to play with pride and show they are better than their lowly league position.
Phillips told The Bolton News: “It will be a full house at the iPro Stadium and a great game for our players to play in.
“It will be one where they need to stand up and be counted.
“It is going to be a difficult afternoon for us but if we are disciplined and committed we can hopefully get something out of the game.
“We came in on Wednesday and watched the Brentford game back and picked out where we need to improve.
“We felt we did show an improvement in the second half and have worked on potential situations that may come up at Derby.
“So the players will have had good preparation by the time we kick off at Derby and we’re hoping they can get a positive result.”
Phillips accepts the challenge of facing a Derby side that beat fellow high-flyers Hull City 4-0 on home soil is not an easy one.
But he dismisses suggestions the underdog tag means there's no pressure on a Whites team expected to be relegated by full time.
He said: “I don’t think it takes pressure off that we are not expected to get anything – certainly not as staff because we want to go into every game as prepared as we can be and first and foremost not to get beat.
“The pressure is still on us as professional people who want to win.
“Derby spent a lot of money last summer to strengthen their squad.
“They have a lot of very good attacking players and we know it will not be easy.
“But we still have that desire to win as you would expect.
“In two out of the three games we have played since I have been doing the job we have found ourselves with a mountain to climb after 20 minutes.
“The Reading game was different and we have to take into the Derby game the resilience we showed against Reading when we went down to 10 men – that work rate and commitment made us competitive.”
Source