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Mark Beevers reckons the only thing which has surprised him about Championship football is how long it took for Wanderers to chalk up a first win.
The big defender played a major part in vanquishing his former club Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday and is now hoping to keep up the momentum for this weekend’s visit of QPR.
Phil Parkinson’s side had waited 12 games to put a mark in the victory column but Beevers insists the step up in quality has not been the shock to the system many have interpreted it to be.
“I didn’t expect it to be as tough in terms of getting a first win on the board,” he said. “But in terms of physicality and quality in the league, I did expect it to be difficult.
“It’s like a mini-Premier League in the Championship now – there are so many players who have played at the top level who are now playing in this division and I’m sure they’ll agree with me when I say there’s no that much difference between the two leagues.
“There’s so many players in the Championship who are more than capable of playing in the Premier League and that’s just how it is nowadays.
“In each game which comes our way now we have to be at our best.”
Bolton chairman Ken Anderson said earlier this week that the club’s minimum target was now to reach 46 points - which he claimed had been the average for survival in the last 15 years.
Over the last two decades, the team finishing in 21st position has averaged 49.35 points, which would leave the Whites requiring 1.3 points per game from here on in.
Beevers admits the slow start to the season now means survival has to be the club’s chief target.
“We’re really determined to get ourselves off the foot of the table and out of the bottom three,” he said. “I think before the season started people would have pin-pointed safety as the benchmark, given that we’re newly-promoted, but we don’t like to put those targets in place.
“Now, being realistic, we cannot focus on anything other than getting ourselves out of the relegation zone.”
Beevers has not been impressed by some of the negatives headlines which have circled the club in recent weeks.
“It’s very easy for people to criticise from the outside looking in – it’s a results-based business and people will look at results and see Bolton lost again and make assumptions about us,” he told the Wanderers match-day programme.
“The results don’t always tell the story of the game and we have had results this season where we definitely didn’t deserve to lose and I’m sure everyone would agree with me on that front.”
Phil Parkinson has had the rare luxury of another full week with his players in the build-up to Saturday’s clash with QPR, and has another free week for the trip to Fulham seven days later.
Beevers admits it does make a difference, having gone through a hectic run of seven fixtures in September, four of which were away from home.
“This month is one of the quietest months of the season, which will hopefully be somewhat of a blessing in disguise. So far this season has been absolutely relentless with fixtures,” he said.
“When it’s Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday it is difficult to get a rhythm in training as you’re still working on recovery from the previous game and you’ve got to cram things in.
“When you have got a week between games, though, you have more time to reflect and concentrate, especially if things aren’t going well for you.”
Beevers will be among the Wanderers players doing an autograph and photo session for fans in the upcoming half term at Bolton Central.
Players will be at the club’s Macron Stadium superstore from 1.45pm to 2.30pm on Monday, October 23.
Tickets to the Christmas pantomime Aladdin will also be available alongside festive show “Sooty’s Birthday Bake-off.”
Source
The big defender played a major part in vanquishing his former club Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday and is now hoping to keep up the momentum for this weekend’s visit of QPR.
Phil Parkinson’s side had waited 12 games to put a mark in the victory column but Beevers insists the step up in quality has not been the shock to the system many have interpreted it to be.
“I didn’t expect it to be as tough in terms of getting a first win on the board,” he said. “But in terms of physicality and quality in the league, I did expect it to be difficult.
“It’s like a mini-Premier League in the Championship now – there are so many players who have played at the top level who are now playing in this division and I’m sure they’ll agree with me when I say there’s no that much difference between the two leagues.
“There’s so many players in the Championship who are more than capable of playing in the Premier League and that’s just how it is nowadays.
“In each game which comes our way now we have to be at our best.”
Bolton chairman Ken Anderson said earlier this week that the club’s minimum target was now to reach 46 points - which he claimed had been the average for survival in the last 15 years.
Over the last two decades, the team finishing in 21st position has averaged 49.35 points, which would leave the Whites requiring 1.3 points per game from here on in.
Beevers admits the slow start to the season now means survival has to be the club’s chief target.
“We’re really determined to get ourselves off the foot of the table and out of the bottom three,” he said. “I think before the season started people would have pin-pointed safety as the benchmark, given that we’re newly-promoted, but we don’t like to put those targets in place.
“Now, being realistic, we cannot focus on anything other than getting ourselves out of the relegation zone.”
Beevers has not been impressed by some of the negatives headlines which have circled the club in recent weeks.
“It’s very easy for people to criticise from the outside looking in – it’s a results-based business and people will look at results and see Bolton lost again and make assumptions about us,” he told the Wanderers match-day programme.
“The results don’t always tell the story of the game and we have had results this season where we definitely didn’t deserve to lose and I’m sure everyone would agree with me on that front.”
Phil Parkinson has had the rare luxury of another full week with his players in the build-up to Saturday’s clash with QPR, and has another free week for the trip to Fulham seven days later.
Beevers admits it does make a difference, having gone through a hectic run of seven fixtures in September, four of which were away from home.
“This month is one of the quietest months of the season, which will hopefully be somewhat of a blessing in disguise. So far this season has been absolutely relentless with fixtures,” he said.
“When it’s Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday it is difficult to get a rhythm in training as you’re still working on recovery from the previous game and you’ve got to cram things in.
“When you have got a week between games, though, you have more time to reflect and concentrate, especially if things aren’t going well for you.”
Beevers will be among the Wanderers players doing an autograph and photo session for fans in the upcoming half term at Bolton Central.
Players will be at the club’s Macron Stadium superstore from 1.45pm to 2.30pm on Monday, October 23.
Tickets to the Christmas pantomime Aladdin will also be available alongside festive show “Sooty’s Birthday Bake-off.”
Source
