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Keith Hill congratulated his players on beating high-flying Fleetwood – then drove home his message that standards must remain high.
Back-to-back league victories either side of a cup triumph against Manchester City’s kids has put Wanderers within 90 minutes of entering into ‘plus points’ for the first time this season.
First-half goals from Chris O’Grady and Daryl Murphy were enough to earn the win on Saturday, albeit the Whites were left hanging on at the end after Josh Morris’s volley brought Joey Barton’s side back into the game late on.
Wanderers will concentrate on the FA Cup first round visit of Plymouth Argyle this week, and Hill wants his players to keep up their momentum so they can continue in the same vein of form in the league and tick off the first target of his managerial reign.
“It’s within touching distance,” he said of the opportunity to get into positive equity in League One. “We have got to make sure we embrace it, we have got to take it on.
“We can’t be like a batsman on 98, fearing getting to 100. It’s important we put our shoulders back, ‘we are Bolton and we are going to take you on.’ “That was a great result going into FA Cup week but we won’t stop there, that’s three – let’s want four, five, six in a row.”
Hill praised his players’ ability to see the game out after a Fleetwood rally in the last half-hour.
Experienced heads like Daryl Murphy, Jason Lowe and Luke Murphy helped lock down a result against a side Hill feels are destined for the top six this season.
“As you are going into the dying embers of that game you have to stay on the pitch – whether it’s defending shape, throwing your body on the line, and we did,” he said.
“It would have been nice to go up 3-1 against an excellent side, and I still back Joey (Barton), his team and the squad of players he’s recruited to make an effort to get into the top two this season. I’m sure they’ll end up at least playing in the play-offs.
“We have got good experience on the pitch but there’s also a good energy and the mixture of both has seen us get that result.”
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Back-to-back league victories either side of a cup triumph against Manchester City’s kids has put Wanderers within 90 minutes of entering into ‘plus points’ for the first time this season.
First-half goals from Chris O’Grady and Daryl Murphy were enough to earn the win on Saturday, albeit the Whites were left hanging on at the end after Josh Morris’s volley brought Joey Barton’s side back into the game late on.
Wanderers will concentrate on the FA Cup first round visit of Plymouth Argyle this week, and Hill wants his players to keep up their momentum so they can continue in the same vein of form in the league and tick off the first target of his managerial reign.
“It’s within touching distance,” he said of the opportunity to get into positive equity in League One. “We have got to make sure we embrace it, we have got to take it on.
“We can’t be like a batsman on 98, fearing getting to 100. It’s important we put our shoulders back, ‘we are Bolton and we are going to take you on.’ “That was a great result going into FA Cup week but we won’t stop there, that’s three – let’s want four, five, six in a row.”
Hill praised his players’ ability to see the game out after a Fleetwood rally in the last half-hour.
Experienced heads like Daryl Murphy, Jason Lowe and Luke Murphy helped lock down a result against a side Hill feels are destined for the top six this season.
“As you are going into the dying embers of that game you have to stay on the pitch – whether it’s defending shape, throwing your body on the line, and we did,” he said.
“It would have been nice to go up 3-1 against an excellent side, and I still back Joey (Barton), his team and the squad of players he’s recruited to make an effort to get into the top two this season. I’m sure they’ll end up at least playing in the play-offs.
“We have got good experience on the pitch but there’s also a good energy and the mixture of both has seen us get that result.”
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