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Wanderers won’t shy away from the rough stuff when they travel to face Luton Town in the FA Cup, says Will Forrester.
The defender believes Bolton are now better equipped to handle the more powerful sides they come across in League One – and is excited by the test that Sunday’s Premier League opponents are bound to offer.
Luton have already held Liverpool to a draw at Kenilworth Road and pushed both Arsenal and Manchester City all the way, confounding the popular view that they would sink quickly after promotion to the Championship.
Whether Wanderers get a chance to play their expansive game on a notoriously tight pitch remains to be seen but Forrester says they will be well-prepared for what is coming.
“That’s the thing with this league, you get different teams who play different ways, and no disrespect to teams like Burton – who play a way that suits them – but you can get the odd dead leg and knocked about,” he told The Bolton News. “I think we are getting better all the time at dealing with that type of thing.
“We know Luton will be tough. It will be a big, physical test, we know that. But I am quite excited to see how we can match up to players who are playing in the best league.
“I think the confidence in our camp is very good. They have obviously scraped a few results recently so fair play to them, they are doing really well. Not many people expected them to stay up but they are fighting.
“I’m just looking forward to the game, I think we all are. We want to test ourselves against the best and we have Premier League opposition, so hopefully we can go there, put a performance in and get the win, hopefully.”
Wanderers have shown themselves to be no pushovers recently, keeping clean sheets in their last three games, the last of which against Burton on New Year’s Day coincided with Forrester’s return to the team.
“That’s my job as a defender, to keep clean sheets, and every time we do that it is better than scoring a goal, to honest,” he said.
“I think that was 11 for the season, and I think we can go on to get even more, hopefully get the most in the league.”
Wanderers’ players were given some time off at the start of the week to prepare themselves for a three-game week, starting with Luton, continuing on Wednesday with a Bristol Street Motors Trophy game at Accrington and ending with a home game against Cheltenham Town.
Though the FA Cup is conceivably third on the list of priorities, Forrester remains upbeat about Bolton’s chances of causing an upset.
“We have been literally non-stop, which was a credit to the lads, being away from all their families,” he said of the festive form.
“I don’t think we are treating Luton as a free hit, we want to go there to put on a performance and get a win.”
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