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Derby day might be just the ticket for local lad Jason Lowe.
Considering the gloom and stresses which have enveloped Wanderers of late, the chance to fight for local pride against Wigan Athletic tomorrow is a welcome distraction for the Leigh-raised midfielder.
Not that he needs much more to occupy his mind, of course, with the recent arrival of his second child – Roman – born last month in Preston.
With bragging rights on the line, Lowe hopes there will be a reason for Wanderers fans to get down to the University of Bolton Stadium and see the team’s attempts to turn around a wretched run of form.
“It has been a tough time to be a supporter of Bolton Wanderers,” he told The Bolton News. “But you know they will be behind us.
“I just hope we can give them something to get behind.
“The results we have earned in the last couple of months have not been good enough, simple as that. You can’t dress it up any differently.
“But you know it will be a different kind of atmosphere, something to pump up the players, so let’s get out there and execute the gameplan.”
Lowe has played in plenty of Lancashire derbies in his days at Blackburn Rovers and while he tries to treat it like any other 90 minutes, there is always something different about a game against a local rival.
“You try and focus on your job and what you can do to carry out your job in the team but there is no doubt about it, there’s a little bit more adrenaline running through your body, those 50/50s come a little bit quicker, and the little details in the game are harder to carry out. It’s a blur.
“That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though, because we need to come up with a result quickly. We need three points on board.”
Though Lowe was born in the Wigan borough, he put straight immediately his local allegiances.
“I’m a Leyther, it doesn’t matter what the council tax bill says,” he said.
“The rivalry is more a rugby one, to be honest. And if Wigan were playing in a final then I’d want them to win. But steady on.”
The conversation takes a more serious turn when Lowe discusses the goal-scoring problems encountered by Bolton in the last few months. In 10 of the last 15 games Phil Parkinson’s side have drawn a blank – and luck deserted the midfielder when he needed it at Millwall last weekend.
“The first chance I had was a great save, to be fair,” he said of Jordan Archer’s incredible reaction save in the first half. “The second one I almost helped it on its way. But it would have been great to open my account for the club.”
Given a bit more freedom to roam forward in a 4-3-3, Lowe hopes he can have more of an effect on the game further forward.
“It gives me a bit more of a licence to get up there so I’d hope I can get a goal sooner rather than later,” he said. “At the moment, that goal is really important, so it doesn’t matter who scores it.
"It's a role I've played plenty of times before and if you are playing either side of the sitter then it gives you that opportunity to go up and link with the striker and wingers.
"When you play that deeper role in midfield, your task first and foremost is to protect and screen the back four, which is a bit different. Either way, though, I don't mind - I just want to get out there and get some results for the team at the moment, get us back to winning ways."
Since Wanderers returned to the Championship, they have failed to win a single game after conceding the first goal. And that fact is not lost on Lowe, who knows a solid start to tomorrow’s game is key after Wigan’s morale-boosting victory against his former club Rovers on Wednesday night.
“They had a great result so they’ll be flying,” he said. “I feel like when we have gone a goal up, we can say to the other team ‘what have you got?’ We’re good at hitting on the counter and that’s where our better results have come from.
“I do think you build everything on a clean sheet. It’s so important. But you also have to have the right mentality and make sure you are attacking when the time is right. We can’t just sit back.”
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Considering the gloom and stresses which have enveloped Wanderers of late, the chance to fight for local pride against Wigan Athletic tomorrow is a welcome distraction for the Leigh-raised midfielder.
Not that he needs much more to occupy his mind, of course, with the recent arrival of his second child – Roman – born last month in Preston.
With bragging rights on the line, Lowe hopes there will be a reason for Wanderers fans to get down to the University of Bolton Stadium and see the team’s attempts to turn around a wretched run of form.
“It has been a tough time to be a supporter of Bolton Wanderers,” he told The Bolton News. “But you know they will be behind us.
“I just hope we can give them something to get behind.
“The results we have earned in the last couple of months have not been good enough, simple as that. You can’t dress it up any differently.
“But you know it will be a different kind of atmosphere, something to pump up the players, so let’s get out there and execute the gameplan.”
Lowe has played in plenty of Lancashire derbies in his days at Blackburn Rovers and while he tries to treat it like any other 90 minutes, there is always something different about a game against a local rival.
“You try and focus on your job and what you can do to carry out your job in the team but there is no doubt about it, there’s a little bit more adrenaline running through your body, those 50/50s come a little bit quicker, and the little details in the game are harder to carry out. It’s a blur.
“That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though, because we need to come up with a result quickly. We need three points on board.”
Though Lowe was born in the Wigan borough, he put straight immediately his local allegiances.
“I’m a Leyther, it doesn’t matter what the council tax bill says,” he said.
“The rivalry is more a rugby one, to be honest. And if Wigan were playing in a final then I’d want them to win. But steady on.”
The conversation takes a more serious turn when Lowe discusses the goal-scoring problems encountered by Bolton in the last few months. In 10 of the last 15 games Phil Parkinson’s side have drawn a blank – and luck deserted the midfielder when he needed it at Millwall last weekend.
“The first chance I had was a great save, to be fair,” he said of Jordan Archer’s incredible reaction save in the first half. “The second one I almost helped it on its way. But it would have been great to open my account for the club.”
Given a bit more freedom to roam forward in a 4-3-3, Lowe hopes he can have more of an effect on the game further forward.
“It gives me a bit more of a licence to get up there so I’d hope I can get a goal sooner rather than later,” he said. “At the moment, that goal is really important, so it doesn’t matter who scores it.
"It's a role I've played plenty of times before and if you are playing either side of the sitter then it gives you that opportunity to go up and link with the striker and wingers.
"When you play that deeper role in midfield, your task first and foremost is to protect and screen the back four, which is a bit different. Either way, though, I don't mind - I just want to get out there and get some results for the team at the moment, get us back to winning ways."
Since Wanderers returned to the Championship, they have failed to win a single game after conceding the first goal. And that fact is not lost on Lowe, who knows a solid start to tomorrow’s game is key after Wigan’s morale-boosting victory against his former club Rovers on Wednesday night.
“They had a great result so they’ll be flying,” he said. “I feel like when we have gone a goal up, we can say to the other team ‘what have you got?’ We’re good at hitting on the counter and that’s where our better results have come from.
“I do think you build everything on a clean sheet. It’s so important. But you also have to have the right mentality and make sure you are attacking when the time is right. We can’t just sit back.”
Source
