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Darren Pratley believes Wanderers can play catch-up with the Championship, so long as they stick together.
Phil Parkinson’s side host QPR this afternoon looking to build on their solitary win of the season and close the gap to safety, which currently stands at six points.
Victory over Sheffield Wednesday last time out brought a renewed optimism among the Whites fans that relegation is no foregone conclusion after a record-breaking poor start.
And Pratley says the decision to stand by manager Parkinson – when other clubs may have looked to make a change – will give Wanderers an advantage over their rivals at the foot of the table.
“It would have been easy for the chairman to turn round, sack the manager, and get a short reaction for one or two games,” he told The Bolton News. “Then it all goes back to normal.
“He came into the dressing room last weekend and said we had to stick together. He’s stood by the manager and I think it’s the right decision.
“This manager has been brilliant since he came in, got us promoted out of League One, which was a big ask and he’s the right person for the club.
“We’re only six points off safety and we’ve lost the majority of our games. There’s still a good chance we’ll stay up, we believe we will, but we need to get the points on the board.”
Pratley reckons surviving in a division populated by much larger playing budgets is much harder than it was in the club’s last spell in the Championship.
“Staying in this division would be massive, especially considering where we came from financially,” he said.
“You look at what is being spent – I mean, Wolves paying £15million for a midfielder – and there’s no question, it’s harder than it was two years ago.
“Apart from the top five or six clubs in the Premier League, there isn’t a lot of difference between most of the teams in this division and the one above. But I still think we can do it. There has been a buzz around the place after beating Sheffield Wednesday but we need to follow it up against QPR.”
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Phil Parkinson’s side host QPR this afternoon looking to build on their solitary win of the season and close the gap to safety, which currently stands at six points.
Victory over Sheffield Wednesday last time out brought a renewed optimism among the Whites fans that relegation is no foregone conclusion after a record-breaking poor start.
And Pratley says the decision to stand by manager Parkinson – when other clubs may have looked to make a change – will give Wanderers an advantage over their rivals at the foot of the table.
“It would have been easy for the chairman to turn round, sack the manager, and get a short reaction for one or two games,” he told The Bolton News. “Then it all goes back to normal.
“He came into the dressing room last weekend and said we had to stick together. He’s stood by the manager and I think it’s the right decision.
“This manager has been brilliant since he came in, got us promoted out of League One, which was a big ask and he’s the right person for the club.
“We’re only six points off safety and we’ve lost the majority of our games. There’s still a good chance we’ll stay up, we believe we will, but we need to get the points on the board.”
Pratley reckons surviving in a division populated by much larger playing budgets is much harder than it was in the club’s last spell in the Championship.
“Staying in this division would be massive, especially considering where we came from financially,” he said.
“You look at what is being spent – I mean, Wolves paying £15million for a midfielder – and there’s no question, it’s harder than it was two years ago.
“Apart from the top five or six clubs in the Premier League, there isn’t a lot of difference between most of the teams in this division and the one above. But I still think we can do it. There has been a buzz around the place after beating Sheffield Wednesday but we need to follow it up against QPR.”
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