Home
Remi Matthews’ late save to preserve a point against Accrington Stanley last weekend might just be the stroke of good fortune that Wanderers have been waiting for, says Keith Hill.
The Bolton boss argues that his players deserved a break, having worked hard on the training ground with little tangible reward over the last few weeks.
But after finally arresting a run of five defeats the save Matthews made in the dying embers against Stanley might just be the forward step he has been aching to report for some time.
“We prepare the players and the expectation of the group is to go and win,” Hill said at his press conference yesterday. “The confidence has been quite low because of what has happened in the matches and it’s a results-driven business. Losing brings its own self-pressure because you want to perform and you want to win.
“I think I have got a good group who are not overly concerned about their own performances but it was really important for the players at the weekend that we salvaged something, got at least a draw, to regain some sort of confidence.
“It was difficult from a psychological point of view in the second half because in so many second-halves we have conceded a goal. Hopefully Remi Matthews making that save from Jordan Clark is the remedy, a turning point, for a little bit of self-healing. It’s what the players need.
“It’s difficult while we are having to make so many changes with injuries.
“There’s not an awful lot we can do but communicate well with the players, the medical staff, and it’s about putting players out there who can potentially pick up the injuries they are doing. But that is football in a nutshell, anyway.”
Hill maintains his team is becoming harder to beat and making tactical progress with and without the ball – and though results have done little to quell his critics, he insists that results can still stabilise over the last dozen games of the season.
“You want it to be a base, part of a structure, but we have to make sure we are constantly taking small steps because we are picking up injuries to key personnel. It happened before January and it is happening after January,” he said.
“We have got a little bit more to dig deeper into with respect to dealing with injuries but haven’t got the alternatives in the forward advanced areas to make substitutions when it is necessary, or stimulate change, because one or two players are playing too many games.
“With respect to making a foundation, why not? The psychology of the players is better now because of that point against Accrington, because of the way we played first half, because of the way we defended second half. So it will definitely give the players a little bit more confidence and it’s up to them to build on it.
“We controlled the first half against Accrington and the second half was better from a defensive perspective, making sure that when they were good we were better, defensively.
“Could I have made substitutions, yes, but I wanted to make sure that the players who were out on the pitch got the point they deserved. It was a difficult one because I didn’t want to end up in the situation we were all in against Blackpool where we were floored by the end result.”
Injuries have been a consistent problem for Hill since he assembled a squad in a frantic 48 hours at the end of last August but the Bolton boss declined to answer directly whether the backroom medical and fitness staff he has lost this season have had an impact on the squad.
“I think that’s a consideration for the club to assess and evaluate in the summer,” he said. “Myself and the players are trying to focus on the 12 games that we have got remaining to get to the summer and then the planning from above will probably take place then.”
Source
The Bolton boss argues that his players deserved a break, having worked hard on the training ground with little tangible reward over the last few weeks.
But after finally arresting a run of five defeats the save Matthews made in the dying embers against Stanley might just be the forward step he has been aching to report for some time.
“We prepare the players and the expectation of the group is to go and win,” Hill said at his press conference yesterday. “The confidence has been quite low because of what has happened in the matches and it’s a results-driven business. Losing brings its own self-pressure because you want to perform and you want to win.
“I think I have got a good group who are not overly concerned about their own performances but it was really important for the players at the weekend that we salvaged something, got at least a draw, to regain some sort of confidence.
“It was difficult from a psychological point of view in the second half because in so many second-halves we have conceded a goal. Hopefully Remi Matthews making that save from Jordan Clark is the remedy, a turning point, for a little bit of self-healing. It’s what the players need.
“It’s difficult while we are having to make so many changes with injuries.
“There’s not an awful lot we can do but communicate well with the players, the medical staff, and it’s about putting players out there who can potentially pick up the injuries they are doing. But that is football in a nutshell, anyway.”
Hill maintains his team is becoming harder to beat and making tactical progress with and without the ball – and though results have done little to quell his critics, he insists that results can still stabilise over the last dozen games of the season.
“You want it to be a base, part of a structure, but we have to make sure we are constantly taking small steps because we are picking up injuries to key personnel. It happened before January and it is happening after January,” he said.
“We have got a little bit more to dig deeper into with respect to dealing with injuries but haven’t got the alternatives in the forward advanced areas to make substitutions when it is necessary, or stimulate change, because one or two players are playing too many games.
“With respect to making a foundation, why not? The psychology of the players is better now because of that point against Accrington, because of the way we played first half, because of the way we defended second half. So it will definitely give the players a little bit more confidence and it’s up to them to build on it.
“We controlled the first half against Accrington and the second half was better from a defensive perspective, making sure that when they were good we were better, defensively.
“Could I have made substitutions, yes, but I wanted to make sure that the players who were out on the pitch got the point they deserved. It was a difficult one because I didn’t want to end up in the situation we were all in against Blackpool where we were floored by the end result.”
Injuries have been a consistent problem for Hill since he assembled a squad in a frantic 48 hours at the end of last August but the Bolton boss declined to answer directly whether the backroom medical and fitness staff he has lost this season have had an impact on the squad.
“I think that’s a consideration for the club to assess and evaluate in the summer,” he said. “Myself and the players are trying to focus on the 12 games that we have got remaining to get to the summer and then the planning from above will probably take place then.”
Source