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BEN Alnwick believes Wanderers’ dressing room has shown an inner strength this summer which will bode well in the Championship.
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Though the bookmakers make Bolton one of the favourites for relegation, based chiefly on the headline-grabbing wage and bonus issues back in July, last season’s player of the year has no concerns about disharmony in the camp; quite the opposite, in fact.
Alnwick signed a new two-year deal this summer and says Wanderers go into the big kick-off at West Brom with one of the strongest team bonds he has known.
“You don’t get that everywhere, believe me,” he said. “We have got a great group who are plugging for each other.
“Regardless of what has gone on, we dig in. We have good professionals here.
“Problems sometimes cause rifts in the dressing room but this one is rock solid. Whatever gets thrown our way we get together and get out of it.”
On paper, Wanderers have one of the toughest opening-day fixtures they could possibly have hoped for.
Darren Moore’s relegated West Brom have spent £11million on Connor Townsend, Sam Johnstone and Kyle Bartley but have also seen a few of their mainstays leave the building.
Alnwick remains optimistic there is nothing to fear at The Hawthorns.
“Do you want a team that has just come down, or one who has come up and brimming with confidence? It’s a flip of a coin, for me,” he said.
“They obviously got relegated and on a bit of a downer. I know they will be looking to bounce straight back up but we’ve got to hope we’ll catch them cold. We need to give them a shock start to the Championship.
“We were never going to get an easy game to start us off, were we?
“Sunderland are the prime example. Just because you come down from the Premier League with names you watch on Match of the Day doesn’t mean you’re successful.
“We stayed up on the last day of last season and got promoted the year before. Regardless of what people might think about what has happened in pre-season here, the lads are on a buzz.
“We are looking to take those good vibes from the end of last season and hit the ground running.”
Wanderers have not won at The Hawthorns in 18 years – their last victory coming at the turn of the millennium when Isaiah Rankin and Gareth Farrely scored in what would be the first of six straight victories for Sam Allardyce’s side.
But the Bolton squad remains confident they can upset the odds this afternoon.
“We have to face them at some point,” said winger, Yanic Wildschut. “When I came here and they said that was first game, I was like ‘whoah’… That’s tough.
“But it is exciting. The lads are really up for it.”
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/16397678.ben-alnwick-on-why-bolton-should-not-fear-west-brom/?ref=mr&lp=8
7 comments
Though the bookmakers make Bolton one of the favourites for relegation, based chiefly on the headline-grabbing wage and bonus issues back in July, last season’s player of the year has no concerns about disharmony in the camp; quite the opposite, in fact.
Alnwick signed a new two-year deal this summer and says Wanderers go into the big kick-off at West Brom with one of the strongest team bonds he has known.
“You don’t get that everywhere, believe me,” he said. “We have got a great group who are plugging for each other.
“Regardless of what has gone on, we dig in. We have good professionals here.
“Problems sometimes cause rifts in the dressing room but this one is rock solid. Whatever gets thrown our way we get together and get out of it.”
On paper, Wanderers have one of the toughest opening-day fixtures they could possibly have hoped for.
Darren Moore’s relegated West Brom have spent £11million on Connor Townsend, Sam Johnstone and Kyle Bartley but have also seen a few of their mainstays leave the building.
Alnwick remains optimistic there is nothing to fear at The Hawthorns.
“Do you want a team that has just come down, or one who has come up and brimming with confidence? It’s a flip of a coin, for me,” he said.
“They obviously got relegated and on a bit of a downer. I know they will be looking to bounce straight back up but we’ve got to hope we’ll catch them cold. We need to give them a shock start to the Championship.
“We were never going to get an easy game to start us off, were we?
“Sunderland are the prime example. Just because you come down from the Premier League with names you watch on Match of the Day doesn’t mean you’re successful.
“We stayed up on the last day of last season and got promoted the year before. Regardless of what people might think about what has happened in pre-season here, the lads are on a buzz.
“We are looking to take those good vibes from the end of last season and hit the ground running.”
Wanderers have not won at The Hawthorns in 18 years – their last victory coming at the turn of the millennium when Isaiah Rankin and Gareth Farrely scored in what would be the first of six straight victories for Sam Allardyce’s side.
But the Bolton squad remains confident they can upset the odds this afternoon.
“We have to face them at some point,” said winger, Yanic Wildschut. “When I came here and they said that was first game, I was like ‘whoah’… That’s tough.
“But it is exciting. The lads are really up for it.”
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/16397678.ben-alnwick-on-why-bolton-should-not-fear-west-brom/?ref=mr&lp=8