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Neil Lennon will stop short of showing his players a repeat of January’s 7-1 mauling at Reading on the way to tomorrow’s game – but he hopes the pain of the Madejski Massacre is still fresh in the mind.
No one who made the trip to Berkshire in January will forget a shameful performance, which marked the low point of Dougie Freedman’s tenure.
And while Craig Davies – a substitute that afternoon insists the “freak” result will not affect performance, his manager hopes it will spur his players on to record a win which could lift Bolton above the Royals into 14th in the Championship.
“I hope it acts as real motivation for them,” said the manager. “It is not nice to be on the end of a defeat like that. I hope it is an extra incentive.
“But we have our own motivation. If we win we can go above them."
Lennon has his own tales of woe from his playing career, including a 6-2 thrashing by Manchester United at Filbert Street and a 5-0 defeat at Highbury against Arsenal.
He scowled, however, at a suggestion from this reporter he might have been involved in Leicester’s 5-0 defeat against Wanderers in 2001 (he had left the Foxes several months earlier). But any excuse to bring up the result.
As a manager Lennon also got a hiding against Barcelona in the Champions League but he believes it is easier to shrug off a bad result as a player than it is in the dugout.
“Sometimes it depends who the opposition is,” he said. “If it is an Arsenal or Man United then they are the cream. As a manager I lost 6-1 with Celtic at the Nou Camp.
“It is difficult to shake it off as a manager. As a player you use it as motivation for the next time you play.
“You want to get it out of your system as quickly as possible. As a manager it resonates a little longer until you get the opportunity to play them again.
“A week is a long time in football, never mind a year. We feel we are in a decent place now. Players have got the bit between their teeth. That can all go again in one or two games.
“But I am sure they will use last season's game as motivation. I don't think it will hold any fears for them on Saturday.”
Reading point the way for any Championship clubs looking to make a dart for glory in the second half of the season.
Four years ago the Royals – featuring Whites vice-captain Matt Mills - surged up the table from 11th at the start of December to win the title just over four months later.
And Lennon is wary of an unpredictable opponent who he still believes could be part of the play-off picture.
“They will have got a great boost from winning at Norwich last weekend,” he said. “And in Nigel Adkins they have a manager who knows this division very well.
“They are a club that can go a long way if you look at their recent history. They have got people there who know how to get the job done.”
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No one who made the trip to Berkshire in January will forget a shameful performance, which marked the low point of Dougie Freedman’s tenure.
And while Craig Davies – a substitute that afternoon insists the “freak” result will not affect performance, his manager hopes it will spur his players on to record a win which could lift Bolton above the Royals into 14th in the Championship.
“I hope it acts as real motivation for them,” said the manager. “It is not nice to be on the end of a defeat like that. I hope it is an extra incentive.
“But we have our own motivation. If we win we can go above them."
Lennon has his own tales of woe from his playing career, including a 6-2 thrashing by Manchester United at Filbert Street and a 5-0 defeat at Highbury against Arsenal.
He scowled, however, at a suggestion from this reporter he might have been involved in Leicester’s 5-0 defeat against Wanderers in 2001 (he had left the Foxes several months earlier). But any excuse to bring up the result.
As a manager Lennon also got a hiding against Barcelona in the Champions League but he believes it is easier to shrug off a bad result as a player than it is in the dugout.
“Sometimes it depends who the opposition is,” he said. “If it is an Arsenal or Man United then they are the cream. As a manager I lost 6-1 with Celtic at the Nou Camp.
“It is difficult to shake it off as a manager. As a player you use it as motivation for the next time you play.
“You want to get it out of your system as quickly as possible. As a manager it resonates a little longer until you get the opportunity to play them again.
“A week is a long time in football, never mind a year. We feel we are in a decent place now. Players have got the bit between their teeth. That can all go again in one or two games.
“But I am sure they will use last season's game as motivation. I don't think it will hold any fears for them on Saturday.”
Reading point the way for any Championship clubs looking to make a dart for glory in the second half of the season.
Four years ago the Royals – featuring Whites vice-captain Matt Mills - surged up the table from 11th at the start of December to win the title just over four months later.
And Lennon is wary of an unpredictable opponent who he still believes could be part of the play-off picture.
“They will have got a great boost from winning at Norwich last weekend,” he said. “And in Nigel Adkins they have a manager who knows this division very well.
“They are a club that can go a long way if you look at their recent history. They have got people there who know how to get the job done.”
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