Home
Believe in yourselves – that’s the message Phil Parkinson will send his weary Wanderers out to battle with tonight as they face Sheffield United in desperate need of a pick-me-up.
Searching for a first win since their return to the Championship, the Whites are starting to look short on confidence after two heavy defeats against Hull City and Middlesbrough.
Parkinson’s squad is short on numbers, too, and the manager was dealt another piece of bad news yesterday after Filipe Morais reported a swollen knee and both Derik Osede (groin) and Stephen Darby (hamstring) were sent for scans. All three are major doubts for the visit of the Blades.
Regardless, the Whites boss is hoping to rally his troops for tonight’s game against a side beaten twice at the Macron last season.
“If you look at the table, if we can get that first win we could be out of the bottom three and that’s something to build on,” he told The Bolton News.
“We haven’t been at our best, but we’re not a million miles away and a win would refresh things.
“We need a lift but no-one is going to click their fingers and make it happen for us. We have to do it by putting in the best performance of our season so far.”
Parkinson is unlikely to risk Andy Taylor, who has a small tear in his calf muscle, and will wait to see how winger Morais feels today before looking to make changes in his team.
“He got a heavy tackle in the Boro game and his knee has swollen up,” he explained. “We’re hoping it was just the impact of the challenge.”
Sammy Ameobi and Josh Vela are also ruled out but David Wheater should be fit after jarring his knee on Saturday.
Chris Wilder’s Blades beat Sunderland last time out and sit fifth in the table but Parkinson is still targeting a positive result.
“They have had a good start,” he said. “But we beat them twice here last season and the team isn’t a great deal different to how it was then. We know pretty much how they will play and how we need to set up.”
Source
Searching for a first win since their return to the Championship, the Whites are starting to look short on confidence after two heavy defeats against Hull City and Middlesbrough.
Parkinson’s squad is short on numbers, too, and the manager was dealt another piece of bad news yesterday after Filipe Morais reported a swollen knee and both Derik Osede (groin) and Stephen Darby (hamstring) were sent for scans. All three are major doubts for the visit of the Blades.
Regardless, the Whites boss is hoping to rally his troops for tonight’s game against a side beaten twice at the Macron last season.
“If you look at the table, if we can get that first win we could be out of the bottom three and that’s something to build on,” he told The Bolton News.
“We haven’t been at our best, but we’re not a million miles away and a win would refresh things.
“We need a lift but no-one is going to click their fingers and make it happen for us. We have to do it by putting in the best performance of our season so far.”
Parkinson is unlikely to risk Andy Taylor, who has a small tear in his calf muscle, and will wait to see how winger Morais feels today before looking to make changes in his team.
“He got a heavy tackle in the Boro game and his knee has swollen up,” he explained. “We’re hoping it was just the impact of the challenge.”
Sammy Ameobi and Josh Vela are also ruled out but David Wheater should be fit after jarring his knee on Saturday.
Chris Wilder’s Blades beat Sunderland last time out and sit fifth in the table but Parkinson is still targeting a positive result.
“They have had a good start,” he said. “But we beat them twice here last season and the team isn’t a great deal different to how it was then. We know pretty much how they will play and how we need to set up.”
Source