Home
Antoni Sarcevic reckons victory against the league leaders would be a perfect pick-me-up for the down-in-the-dumps Wanderers.
The Bolton skipper hopes to take out his derby frustrations on his former club Plymouth Argyle, currently flying high under ex-Bury boss Ryan Lowe.
Ian Evatt’s side are nursing a catalogue of injuries and Sarcevic will himself have to patch up an ankle injury to take his place at Home Park.
But following a squad meeting at Lostock yesterday, the midfielder is confident that the team is ready to move on.
“Saturday was a tough one to take. It was a big day and even if you take away the football and the emotion of the derby, we just didn’t turn up. It was Wigan’s day, not ours.
“We have to move on now – simple as that.
“We are going there against a good team on a great run but if we want to be up there then these are the sort of games you have to relish. We have to do what we have been doing this season and not try and contemplate what happened on Saturday.”
Sarcevic’s involvement against Wigan had been in question all week but the captain said he felt a responsibility on his shoulders to play through the pain.
Gethin Jones, Kieran Lee and Declan John had all been declared unavailable in the run up to the game, which left him in an invidious situation.
“I had a conversation with the gaffer and he was honest, so was I,” he said. “As a footballer sometimes you have to try and push through that barrier. I didn’t want to rule myself out and I didn’t want to be the player who isn’t really fit.
“It is a balancing act. It was a strange week.
“Behind the scenes people maybe don’t see it but myself and Geth were the early injuries and then as the week went on a few others started pulling out. It all mounted on top, so a minor decision became a major one because it is all on you.
“I got smashed right on it about five minutes in when I came inside and the lad just wiped me out. You think at that point ‘Jesus, that’s the last thing I need’.
“But we were in a derby and is masks over things, you don’t think about it.
“After that result you do starting thinking, over-thinking, and that is the thing with football, you go home and things are magnified 100 times more when you are sat on the sofa and mulling it all over in your head.”
Source