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Karl Henry has a few unwanted relegations on his CV – but is confident he won’t add another at Wanderers.
The experienced midfielder, whose arrival in late September had such a profound effect on Bolton’s league improvement, has been through the worst case scenario at both Wolves and QPR.
Four successive defeats since the international break has dragged Phil Parkinson’s side right back into the battle for survival, and a fifth at Barnsley tomorrow would ensure a return to the bottom three.
Henry is reluctant to place too much emphasis on 90 minutes, win, lose or draw, and believes the team left standing on May 6 will be the one which has kept a level head throughout the run-in.
“It’s a horrible situation to be in but you have to be able to deal with the pressure,” he told The Bolton News.
“I’d agree Barnsley is a must-not-lose game but at the same time you look at the table two or three games ago and you would have said one more win, maybe against Birmingham, and we’d be safe.
“It is going to go down to the wire, there’s no doubt in my mind.
“The ones who survive are usually the ones who stay calmest. Yes you have got to fight, yes you have got to nick goals, but at the moment we need to keep our heads.”
Wanderers’ form since the turn of the year has been stable enough to suggest they could avoid the drop, albeit their lack of goals has become a concern following the January exit of top-scorer Gary Madine.
The timing of the current dip in result has got nerves jangling, especially as defeats against Birmingham and Millwall have occurred in front of home support.
“Our home form has been excellent,” Henry said. “And that is what makes the last couple of results all the more disappointing, really difficult to take.
“Even after all that, we we’ve got every chance of staying in the league.
“You could argue we have punched above our weight for a large part of the season and it has been tough. I can’t say we knew it would be from minute one, because I wasn’t here, but we knew that staying up would be success.
“Something which maybe works to our advantage is that we have been down in this mire the whole season. We only stepped out of it for a couple of weeks, now we’re dragged back into it.”
Tuesday night’s defeat against Millwall did not have the hallmarks of a side which could avoid relegation, yet Henry argues the result hinged on Wanderers’ inability to take the chances they created early on.
A goal to settle the nerves at Oakwell could be just what the doctor ordered.
“If you lose a game you can always say the bottom line wasn’t good enough,” he said.
“First half there were moments where we could have got a couple of goals, but didn’t, and the game then takes on a very different complexion.
“Look at the Manchester derby the other day – City could have been five or six goals up but they didn’t and end up losing the game.
“Did the best manager in the world have answers? No. It happens, it’s the game we’re in.
“We don’t want to be losing games at this stage of the season, of course we don’t, but we have done – now we have to get on with it.”
Phil Parkinson has rotated his squad consistently since the international break in an effort to find the right winning formula, and to compensate for injuries to Henry and fellow midfielder Darren Pratley.
Henry accepts there is an onus on the senior players to lead the way in South Yorkshire and gain a result which can restore hope among the supporters.
“There’s belief in the dressing room – 100 per cent – because we have got plenty of experienced players who have been here before,” he said.
“We are not too good to go down, we know that. It is almost a lottery. There are so many sides involved and things change so quickly on one set of results.
“Have we got the players who can go out there against Barnsley and roll our sleeves up? Yes, I believe we have. And I, for one will be trying to make sure that happens.
“We will pick ourselves up, we have to, and do our level best to pick up points.”
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The experienced midfielder, whose arrival in late September had such a profound effect on Bolton’s league improvement, has been through the worst case scenario at both Wolves and QPR.
Four successive defeats since the international break has dragged Phil Parkinson’s side right back into the battle for survival, and a fifth at Barnsley tomorrow would ensure a return to the bottom three.
Henry is reluctant to place too much emphasis on 90 minutes, win, lose or draw, and believes the team left standing on May 6 will be the one which has kept a level head throughout the run-in.
“It’s a horrible situation to be in but you have to be able to deal with the pressure,” he told The Bolton News.
“I’d agree Barnsley is a must-not-lose game but at the same time you look at the table two or three games ago and you would have said one more win, maybe against Birmingham, and we’d be safe.
“It is going to go down to the wire, there’s no doubt in my mind.
“The ones who survive are usually the ones who stay calmest. Yes you have got to fight, yes you have got to nick goals, but at the moment we need to keep our heads.”
Wanderers’ form since the turn of the year has been stable enough to suggest they could avoid the drop, albeit their lack of goals has become a concern following the January exit of top-scorer Gary Madine.
The timing of the current dip in result has got nerves jangling, especially as defeats against Birmingham and Millwall have occurred in front of home support.
“Our home form has been excellent,” Henry said. “And that is what makes the last couple of results all the more disappointing, really difficult to take.
“Even after all that, we we’ve got every chance of staying in the league.
“You could argue we have punched above our weight for a large part of the season and it has been tough. I can’t say we knew it would be from minute one, because I wasn’t here, but we knew that staying up would be success.
“Something which maybe works to our advantage is that we have been down in this mire the whole season. We only stepped out of it for a couple of weeks, now we’re dragged back into it.”
Tuesday night’s defeat against Millwall did not have the hallmarks of a side which could avoid relegation, yet Henry argues the result hinged on Wanderers’ inability to take the chances they created early on.
A goal to settle the nerves at Oakwell could be just what the doctor ordered.
“If you lose a game you can always say the bottom line wasn’t good enough,” he said.
“First half there were moments where we could have got a couple of goals, but didn’t, and the game then takes on a very different complexion.
“Look at the Manchester derby the other day – City could have been five or six goals up but they didn’t and end up losing the game.
“Did the best manager in the world have answers? No. It happens, it’s the game we’re in.
“We don’t want to be losing games at this stage of the season, of course we don’t, but we have done – now we have to get on with it.”
Phil Parkinson has rotated his squad consistently since the international break in an effort to find the right winning formula, and to compensate for injuries to Henry and fellow midfielder Darren Pratley.
Henry accepts there is an onus on the senior players to lead the way in South Yorkshire and gain a result which can restore hope among the supporters.
“There’s belief in the dressing room – 100 per cent – because we have got plenty of experienced players who have been here before,” he said.
“We are not too good to go down, we know that. It is almost a lottery. There are so many sides involved and things change so quickly on one set of results.
“Have we got the players who can go out there against Barnsley and roll our sleeves up? Yes, I believe we have. And I, for one will be trying to make sure that happens.
“We will pick ourselves up, we have to, and do our level best to pick up points.”
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