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Mark Beevers says Wanderers risk wrecking their hard work if they continue to feel blue about defeat to Birmingham City.
While his pride was stung by Tuesday night’s result the big defender has not looked to analyse the wave of criticism which followed, both from inside and outside the club’s walls.
Ken Anderson made his feelings known in a stinging statement earlier this week, seemingly aimed at players who – like Beevers – come to the end of their current contract at Bolton this summer and are seeking to renew their deal.
Wanderers remain two places above the relegation zone and maintain a five-point buffer on Barnsley - and are currently on course to meet both the chairman and manager’s target of securing a place in next season’s Championship.
With six games to go, the first of which is at Derby County tomorrow, the 28-year-old is unwilling to dwell on the negatives.
“The manager has had his say on the game and as experienced professionals, we know what we could have done better against Birmingham,” he told The Bolton News. “We’re men enough to take those words on the chin – but I haven’t gone out of my way to read criticism . And I will keep it that way. We have got a job to do and it’s out on the pitch.
“I’ll be honest, if someone would have told me after we’d made a poor start that we’d be five points clear of the bottom three with six games to go, I would have said ‘yeah, good one’ and thought they were joking.
“But we are. We got beat by Birmingham but we soldier on, and look to improve. Beating yourself up about it isn’t going to change the result.”
Before Monday’s win against Preston at Deepdale, Derby’s form was anything but promotion-worthy, with Gary Rowett’s side going eight games without victory.
Home defeats against Fulham and Sunderland suggest the tension at Pride Park is telling, just as it did for Wanderers against Birmingham.
“It’s about how you deal with it at this stage of the season,” Beevers said. “I think the Birmingham game was always going to be a tense, scrappy, edgy one. And in the end we have let ourselves down on a set piece and haven’t created enough chances to get back into it.
“You see Derby’s results haven’t been great. They have a great squad with top players but they are not immune to it either.
“Through the dressing room I think we’ve got enough players who have done enough in their careers to handle pressure.
“We know what the prize was against Birmingham but we’ve missed that opportunity now. We have to get back into the saddle and make sure we’re ready for the next one.”
Derby took three points from the Macron Stadium when the season was only four games old and have spent most of their time on the shirt-tails of Wolves and Cardiff City at the top.
Their expensively-assembled squad is brimming with Premier League experience, yet Beevers feels it is exactly the kind of game Bolton need to right Tuesday’s wrongs.
“I’m not really big on bookmakers but I’d guess they have got us as heavy underdogs again,” he said. “Let’s face it, we’ve been in this positon before.
“People weren’t expecting us to get anything at Fulham, or against Aston Villa, or Bristol City, or Sheffield United, or Cardiff, or Norwich – but we found a way.
“I’m not going to stand here and say out away form has been great over the whole season, because it hasn’t, but I think we’ve had our moments.
“If we’re being completely written off on Saturday, then fine. We could do ourselves a massive favour by getting something and making sure people are talking about a good performance again.”
The man Beevers is likely to be marking on Saturday, Matej Vydra, was voted into the Championship team of the year this week.
The Czech striker has 18 goals and is aiming at equalling his best tally of 22 - but also feels he has a point to prove after an indifferent couple of years.
“Maybe this season was important for me to show if I can be a good player or not. It isn’t just about me; it’s about my team-mates and they help me so much.
“The manager has also helped me by playing me in my best position, which is as a ‘number 10’. He has given me a free-role.”
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While his pride was stung by Tuesday night’s result the big defender has not looked to analyse the wave of criticism which followed, both from inside and outside the club’s walls.
Ken Anderson made his feelings known in a stinging statement earlier this week, seemingly aimed at players who – like Beevers – come to the end of their current contract at Bolton this summer and are seeking to renew their deal.
Wanderers remain two places above the relegation zone and maintain a five-point buffer on Barnsley - and are currently on course to meet both the chairman and manager’s target of securing a place in next season’s Championship.
With six games to go, the first of which is at Derby County tomorrow, the 28-year-old is unwilling to dwell on the negatives.
“The manager has had his say on the game and as experienced professionals, we know what we could have done better against Birmingham,” he told The Bolton News. “We’re men enough to take those words on the chin – but I haven’t gone out of my way to read criticism . And I will keep it that way. We have got a job to do and it’s out on the pitch.
“I’ll be honest, if someone would have told me after we’d made a poor start that we’d be five points clear of the bottom three with six games to go, I would have said ‘yeah, good one’ and thought they were joking.
“But we are. We got beat by Birmingham but we soldier on, and look to improve. Beating yourself up about it isn’t going to change the result.”
Before Monday’s win against Preston at Deepdale, Derby’s form was anything but promotion-worthy, with Gary Rowett’s side going eight games without victory.
Home defeats against Fulham and Sunderland suggest the tension at Pride Park is telling, just as it did for Wanderers against Birmingham.
“It’s about how you deal with it at this stage of the season,” Beevers said. “I think the Birmingham game was always going to be a tense, scrappy, edgy one. And in the end we have let ourselves down on a set piece and haven’t created enough chances to get back into it.
“You see Derby’s results haven’t been great. They have a great squad with top players but they are not immune to it either.
“Through the dressing room I think we’ve got enough players who have done enough in their careers to handle pressure.
“We know what the prize was against Birmingham but we’ve missed that opportunity now. We have to get back into the saddle and make sure we’re ready for the next one.”
Derby took three points from the Macron Stadium when the season was only four games old and have spent most of their time on the shirt-tails of Wolves and Cardiff City at the top.
Their expensively-assembled squad is brimming with Premier League experience, yet Beevers feels it is exactly the kind of game Bolton need to right Tuesday’s wrongs.
“I’m not really big on bookmakers but I’d guess they have got us as heavy underdogs again,” he said. “Let’s face it, we’ve been in this positon before.
“People weren’t expecting us to get anything at Fulham, or against Aston Villa, or Bristol City, or Sheffield United, or Cardiff, or Norwich – but we found a way.
“I’m not going to stand here and say out away form has been great over the whole season, because it hasn’t, but I think we’ve had our moments.
“If we’re being completely written off on Saturday, then fine. We could do ourselves a massive favour by getting something and making sure people are talking about a good performance again.”
The man Beevers is likely to be marking on Saturday, Matej Vydra, was voted into the Championship team of the year this week.
The Czech striker has 18 goals and is aiming at equalling his best tally of 22 - but also feels he has a point to prove after an indifferent couple of years.
“Maybe this season was important for me to show if I can be a good player or not. It isn’t just about me; it’s about my team-mates and they help me so much.
“The manager has also helped me by playing me in my best position, which is as a ‘number 10’. He has given me a free-role.”
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