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No good son likes to disappoint his parents, but Phil Parkinson hopes he will do exactly that in this evening’s derby at Preston.
Buoyed by nine points from their last five games – a run that saw them climb off bottom spot above Sunderland – Wanderers take on their near neighbours aiming to compound the misery for North End manager Alex Neil.
A third Wanderers win in six might not sit entirely comfortably with Parkinson’s family, however. The Chorley-born boss revealed his parents were Deepdale regulars during his formative years.
“Being born in Chorley there’s a connection there with both clubs and I’m looking forward to going there,” he said.
“Deepdale is a ground I’ve always enjoyed going to as a player or as a manager and my parents were Preston season ticket holders.
“The north west really is a hotbed of football and Preston is a club similar to Bolton with great tradition and history so I can’t wait to go there.
“I had some good wins there with Bradford but I remember more that there was no quarter given, that’s the way it’s got to be tomorrow.
“Talking to the lads this morning I asked them as a group what they felt we needed to do and they came up with all the factors that have contributed to our recent run.
“We’d be mad if we changed anything going into this game, we understand clearly what we’ve got to do, let’s make sure that we do it.
“As a group they know what they have to do.
“It’s a difficult one to predict in terms of the shape and personnel. Sometimes you go into games with a clear picture of what the opposition are going to do, but this game is different so we’ll be focusing solely on what we need to do to play our very best.”
More than 3,000 tickets for the away end are thought to have already been snapped up, with many more Wanderers fans expected to make the short trip to Preston hoping to roar their rejuvenated side to victory rather than watch from their armchairs.
And Parkinson feels the TV cameras, floodlights and Lancashire night sky all add extra spice to an already-hotly anticipated clash of two famous old clubs, particularly given his side’s sky-high confidence contrasting the hosts’ recent woes.
“Derby games are great and under the lights there is also that extra bit of atmosphere,” he told The Bolton News. “There’s a lot to build it up with the TV cameras being there as well so hopefully it will be a good night for us but, most importantly for us, we’ve got to concentrate on the factors we’ve taken into recent weeks and reproduce them again.
“Everyone’s been looking forward to us facing Preston, I’ve been told we’ve sold something like 3,000 tickets already, and you can pay on the night as well, so it’ll be great for the lads to have that backing and we’ve got to play like the home team and really be positive in everything we do.
“The supporters have been good and this is another opportunity for us to get everyone right behind us and that’s what we intend to do.
“First of all we’ve got to expect a reaction from them in terms of their recent results so we’ve got to be ready for that, but equally the confidence levels aren’t as high as they were earlier in the season
“I’ve seen Preston quite a bit this season, we’ve got to utilise that to our advantage but make sure we’re prepared to roll our sleeves up and run harder than Preston all over the pitch because that’s what local derbies are all about.
“There’s a lot of pride and stake and we want to make sure we come off the pitch like we have done recently – as a group of players who’ve given everything to get a result.”
The Whites hit a real purple patch of form before their enforced lay-off last weekend.
But, rather than complain that the international break came at the wrong time for his buoyant squad, he has been balancing rest time for those putting in the time on the pitch and the players keeping them on their toes maintaining their sharpness.
“It’s been a good couple of weeks for us,” he said. “Obviously going into the break with a win was great and I’d like to think we’ve got the balance right between a bit of rest for the ones who played in the last few games and some work for the others, so we go into the Preston game in good spirits.
“Getting the balance between experienced players and the younger ones around them is always important too and Darren Pratley and Karl Henry have been great for us, they’re really managing the team for us on the pitch and you need that.
“You need captains, not just a captain, and those two have been excellent, in and around the training ground as well.”
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Buoyed by nine points from their last five games – a run that saw them climb off bottom spot above Sunderland – Wanderers take on their near neighbours aiming to compound the misery for North End manager Alex Neil.
A third Wanderers win in six might not sit entirely comfortably with Parkinson’s family, however. The Chorley-born boss revealed his parents were Deepdale regulars during his formative years.
“Being born in Chorley there’s a connection there with both clubs and I’m looking forward to going there,” he said.
“Deepdale is a ground I’ve always enjoyed going to as a player or as a manager and my parents were Preston season ticket holders.
“The north west really is a hotbed of football and Preston is a club similar to Bolton with great tradition and history so I can’t wait to go there.
“I had some good wins there with Bradford but I remember more that there was no quarter given, that’s the way it’s got to be tomorrow.
“Talking to the lads this morning I asked them as a group what they felt we needed to do and they came up with all the factors that have contributed to our recent run.
“We’d be mad if we changed anything going into this game, we understand clearly what we’ve got to do, let’s make sure that we do it.
“As a group they know what they have to do.
“It’s a difficult one to predict in terms of the shape and personnel. Sometimes you go into games with a clear picture of what the opposition are going to do, but this game is different so we’ll be focusing solely on what we need to do to play our very best.”
More than 3,000 tickets for the away end are thought to have already been snapped up, with many more Wanderers fans expected to make the short trip to Preston hoping to roar their rejuvenated side to victory rather than watch from their armchairs.
And Parkinson feels the TV cameras, floodlights and Lancashire night sky all add extra spice to an already-hotly anticipated clash of two famous old clubs, particularly given his side’s sky-high confidence contrasting the hosts’ recent woes.
“Derby games are great and under the lights there is also that extra bit of atmosphere,” he told The Bolton News. “There’s a lot to build it up with the TV cameras being there as well so hopefully it will be a good night for us but, most importantly for us, we’ve got to concentrate on the factors we’ve taken into recent weeks and reproduce them again.
“Everyone’s been looking forward to us facing Preston, I’ve been told we’ve sold something like 3,000 tickets already, and you can pay on the night as well, so it’ll be great for the lads to have that backing and we’ve got to play like the home team and really be positive in everything we do.
“The supporters have been good and this is another opportunity for us to get everyone right behind us and that’s what we intend to do.
“First of all we’ve got to expect a reaction from them in terms of their recent results so we’ve got to be ready for that, but equally the confidence levels aren’t as high as they were earlier in the season
“I’ve seen Preston quite a bit this season, we’ve got to utilise that to our advantage but make sure we’re prepared to roll our sleeves up and run harder than Preston all over the pitch because that’s what local derbies are all about.
“There’s a lot of pride and stake and we want to make sure we come off the pitch like we have done recently – as a group of players who’ve given everything to get a result.”
The Whites hit a real purple patch of form before their enforced lay-off last weekend.
But, rather than complain that the international break came at the wrong time for his buoyant squad, he has been balancing rest time for those putting in the time on the pitch and the players keeping them on their toes maintaining their sharpness.
“It’s been a good couple of weeks for us,” he said. “Obviously going into the break with a win was great and I’d like to think we’ve got the balance right between a bit of rest for the ones who played in the last few games and some work for the others, so we go into the Preston game in good spirits.
“Getting the balance between experienced players and the younger ones around them is always important too and Darren Pratley and Karl Henry have been great for us, they’re really managing the team for us on the pitch and you need that.
“You need captains, not just a captain, and those two have been excellent, in and around the training ground as well.”
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