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Phil Parkinson has urged his Wanderers to “embrace the pressure” of turning their season around.
The Whites have dropped off the pace completely in League One after a bright start to the season, coming in for heavy criticism from their own supporters during back-to-back defeats against Rochdale and Oxford United.
They could gain some welcome respite against League Two Blackpool in the Checkatrade Trophy tonight, with Parkinson set to make the maximum allowed changes to play the likes of Chris Taylor, Sammy Ameobi and Tom Thorpe from the start.
Rediscovering some form in the league is a different matter, however, and the Whites boss accepts expectation levels were raised after a four-game winning streak at the start of the season.
“I have to be honest, when I first came here the expectancy wasn’t that high because of what had happened at the club,” he told The Bolton News.
“Compared to MK Dons or Charlton who came down with us, we faced a number of issues that they did not have to go through. But because of the start we had it raised the bar. That’s fine and I’m glad we had that good start. We have to push on now.
“I want to be at a club which expects you to win games. There is a big expectancy here because it is a big club with a lot of history and I have players who have played at a higher level who can handle that.
“There is frustration among the supporters when we lose games and I understand there can be underlying reasons for that. But we have got to get back to performing to how we were a few weeks ago.”
Parkinson admitted his side had “let the fans down” on Saturday in a 2-0 defeat against Oxford in which they failed to put a shot on target.
They will have a chance to take a step in the right direction tonight against Blackpool and the manager believes his side have to be brave.
“We are a big club,” he said. “This club’s fans expect. We have good enough players to handle that. We have to embrace it.”
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The Whites have dropped off the pace completely in League One after a bright start to the season, coming in for heavy criticism from their own supporters during back-to-back defeats against Rochdale and Oxford United.
They could gain some welcome respite against League Two Blackpool in the Checkatrade Trophy tonight, with Parkinson set to make the maximum allowed changes to play the likes of Chris Taylor, Sammy Ameobi and Tom Thorpe from the start.
Rediscovering some form in the league is a different matter, however, and the Whites boss accepts expectation levels were raised after a four-game winning streak at the start of the season.
“I have to be honest, when I first came here the expectancy wasn’t that high because of what had happened at the club,” he told The Bolton News.
“Compared to MK Dons or Charlton who came down with us, we faced a number of issues that they did not have to go through. But because of the start we had it raised the bar. That’s fine and I’m glad we had that good start. We have to push on now.
“I want to be at a club which expects you to win games. There is a big expectancy here because it is a big club with a lot of history and I have players who have played at a higher level who can handle that.
“There is frustration among the supporters when we lose games and I understand there can be underlying reasons for that. But we have got to get back to performing to how we were a few weeks ago.”
Parkinson admitted his side had “let the fans down” on Saturday in a 2-0 defeat against Oxford in which they failed to put a shot on target.
They will have a chance to take a step in the right direction tonight against Blackpool and the manager believes his side have to be brave.
“We are a big club,” he said. “This club’s fans expect. We have good enough players to handle that. We have to embrace it.”
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