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Phil Parkinson says Wanderers have to play a game of patience if they are to take some reward from today’s match at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Already promoted, Wolves can seal the Championship at the Macron this afternoon, while the Whites, who suffered a 5-1 defeat in the away fixture, are still battling to stave off the threat of relegation.
And Parkinson does not expect any favours from the team who did his side just that by beating Birmingham on Sunday, a result that means Wanderers are fifth-bottom, ahead of the Blues on goal difference.
“Everybody knows it’s a big challenge for us but it’s one we’re looking forward to,” he told The Bolton News. “Wolves have dominated nearly every team in this league, sometimes with 75 per cent possession, and similar to the game against Fulham, we’ve got to have a real discipline without the ball, that’s key.
“We’ve got to give their players the respect they deserve but not be fearful of them because we can cause them problems ourselves.
“Going into the game we have to make sure we’re patient and show good discipline out of possession.
“The supporters are knowledgeable, they know there are times we’ve got to be patient and disciplined against a team at the top of the league.
“At times we left ourselves exposed down at Molineux and we got punished for that. You have to give the players respect but equally we’re going into the game having stressed to the lads we’ve got to look to hurt them.
“But it’s not a situation where we’re going to look to just contain them, we’ve got to go and put them under pressure in certain areas which we feel we can exploit.”
Parkinson has no new injury worries in his squad and now that the rigours of cramming in midweek matches is over, he is hoping there is enough freshness in the players’ legs to see them over the line.
“Fitness-wise at this stage of the season if they’re not fit now they’re never going to be,” he added.
“We have had to keep the right levels of intensity and working on the training pitch in terms of maintenance of fitness if you like, but also the tactical aspect of it, that is key, as is making sure we’re organised and everybody knows their job come three o’clock tomorrow.”
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Already promoted, Wolves can seal the Championship at the Macron this afternoon, while the Whites, who suffered a 5-1 defeat in the away fixture, are still battling to stave off the threat of relegation.
And Parkinson does not expect any favours from the team who did his side just that by beating Birmingham on Sunday, a result that means Wanderers are fifth-bottom, ahead of the Blues on goal difference.
“Everybody knows it’s a big challenge for us but it’s one we’re looking forward to,” he told The Bolton News. “Wolves have dominated nearly every team in this league, sometimes with 75 per cent possession, and similar to the game against Fulham, we’ve got to have a real discipline without the ball, that’s key.
“We’ve got to give their players the respect they deserve but not be fearful of them because we can cause them problems ourselves.
“Going into the game we have to make sure we’re patient and show good discipline out of possession.
“The supporters are knowledgeable, they know there are times we’ve got to be patient and disciplined against a team at the top of the league.
“At times we left ourselves exposed down at Molineux and we got punished for that. You have to give the players respect but equally we’re going into the game having stressed to the lads we’ve got to look to hurt them.
“But it’s not a situation where we’re going to look to just contain them, we’ve got to go and put them under pressure in certain areas which we feel we can exploit.”
Parkinson has no new injury worries in his squad and now that the rigours of cramming in midweek matches is over, he is hoping there is enough freshness in the players’ legs to see them over the line.
“Fitness-wise at this stage of the season if they’re not fit now they’re never going to be,” he added.
“We have had to keep the right levels of intensity and working on the training pitch in terms of maintenance of fitness if you like, but also the tactical aspect of it, that is key, as is making sure we’re organised and everybody knows their job come three o’clock tomorrow.”
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