The Pre-Match Warm Up: Bolton v QPR. Published on Friday, 09 March 2012 00:38 Written by Ron Norris Things are about to get infinitely harder in the coming weeks with Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United all waiting around the corner. Before we concern ourselves with that prospect thought there’s the small matter of Bolton on Saturday in the very definition of a six pointer. Match: Bolton Wanderers v Queens Park Rangers Competition: The Premier League Venue: Loftus Road Date: Saturday 10th March 2012 Kick off time: 12:45 Mark Hughes receives a big boost ahead of Saturday’s game with both Djibril Cisse and Samba Diakite set to return to the starting line up after completing their respective suspensions. Cisse has been absent for three games following his dismissal against Wolves whilst Diakite has sat out one match thanks his red card versus Fulham. Luke Young could also be back in the side having missed the last few with a hamstring problem but Heidar Helguson remains sidelined with the groin strain that has kept him out since the Chelsea cup game in January and whilst DJ Campbell is set to return to training he is unlikely to play any part just yet. Owen Coyle also has good news up front with striker Kevin Davies returning to the fold. He picked up a knee injury against Wigan recently and missed the last three games as a result but is expected to take his place in The Wanderers squad this weekend. Full back Marcos Alonso is also making good progress having been out since December with a foot problem but missed some training this week to return home to Spain for his Grandfathers funeral so may have to delay his return for another week. Mired in the bottom three , without a win in the last five league games and having only scored one goal during them things are starting to look ominous for Bolton. Coming into this off the back of defeats against Chelsea and Manchester City was perhaps expected but a 2-1 home reverse against Wigan in their last match at The Reebok was surely as disappointing for them as our collapse against Wolves was for us. Wanderers home form is shaky with just the one win in the last seven Premier League games, albeit an impressive 3-1 victory over Liverpool. They’ve lost to Everton, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Wigan in that time and drawn with Wolves and Arsenal. The FA Cup has at least provided a bit of light relief for Bolton fans with Macclesfield and Swansea being dispatched at home and a win at Millwall taking them into the quarter finals. However, much like ourselves, they will surely be cursing the fact that five points dropped against two relegation rivals has served only to keep things tight and nervy for them where it matters most as we approach the climax of the campaign. Rangers travel to The Reebok Stadium on Saturday for the first time in over eleven years. Halloween 2000 was the last time we went there and we came away on the end of a 3-1 defeat with only Peter Crouch’s goal to show for the night. Bolton are looking to make it five straight home wins against us on Saturday with that 2000 defeat preceded by three successive 2-1’s at the tail end of the 90’s. We did take all three points in our only Premier League fixture in Bolton though, Danny Dichio’s late goal secured a 1-0 win in 1995 but that remains our only victory on their patch since 1980. Owen Coyle spent two years as a player in Bolton between 1993 and 1995 and enjoyed a promotion season with the club before returning to manage them in 2010. He first made waves in 2006 as boss of Scottish First Division outfit St. Johnstone who he guided to two cup semi finals and a near promotion to the SPL before Burnley persuaded him to move down south. He brought his form down with him though, taking Burnley to a league cup semi final of their own in 2009, knocking out Fulham and Chelsea on route to defeat at the hands of Arsenal. However he went one better in the league than he had in Scotland, winning the Championship play off final of 2009 to take Burnley into The Premier League. Burnley’s top flight stay would prove to be brief but Coyle’s would not, in January 2010 he took up the chance to succeed Gary Megson at Bolton, a job he had previously just missed out on when Megson was appointed, and guided them to two fairly comfortable mid-table finishes before embarking on what has proved to be a difficult campaign this time around. These two sides have met three times in March over the years, with Bolton winning all three matches and scoring nine goals in the process. Jussi Jaaskelainen, still in the Bolton squad, lined up against Rangers during our last trip to The Reebok in 2000. Two out of the last three QPR goals scored at Bolton have been penalties, Gavin Peacock in 1999 and Keith Rowland earlier the same year. I began my playing career at Northampton Town in 1972 and spent five years there before moving to Aston Villa in 1977. After a stint at Brighton I joined QPR and become a key part of the successful 80’s side, spending four years at the club and scoring 36 league goals. I finally ended my playing days with Bolton Wanderers in 1990 having reversed my earlier retirement from the game when I had begun my then fledging managerial career at Plymouth. Eddie Niedzwiecki "With 11 matches to go we are taking each one as it comes. The boys are working very hard in training, they are taking ideas on board and hopefully we can repay the fans for their support. "I think it will be up to us to settle very early on Saturday, Bolton are a very difficult team to play at their place. "Both teams are striving for the three points. I'm making no predictions except an honest and hard-working performance from our guys and hopefully we will come out on the right side." Nedum Onuoha "I called it a 'mini league' a few weeks ago and it is that at the minute. Everyone has to start winning games, that's the priority for all of the five sides down there. "Fortunately the one thing that you can say has been consistent about the other four is the fact that they've not put too many wins together. Whoever can get the most wins between now and the end of the season will prove to be champions of the mini league." Clint Hill The last four or five have been massive games. For one reason or another we've dropped points, but hopefully we can turn the corner and give a strong performance against a very good and physical Bolton team. "We know it's going to be tough. They've got some good players and it's away from home as well. We've got to be solid, up for it and together - hopefully we can get something. "Hopefully we can get a little bit of revenge and try and turn them over. We need three points and if we can get them, it'll be a massive achievement for us. We'll go there strong, compact and hopefully together and try to get a decent result." Owen Coyle "We've had some tough games since January and we concede that there are five clubs at the bottom looking to get out of those three places, and ourselves and QPR are two of those. "We recognise that our opponents on Saturday spent huge sums of money in January, but we have to make sure we are at our best. We have shown that when we are, we can win games. "It's a proverbial six-pointer but we are at home and we want to go and maximise that opportunity. Our fans have been magnificent through thick and thin and we have to reward them with a performance.” Nedum Onuoha talked this week of a mini league scrapping for survival and he’s exactly right. The bottom five in this division, ourselves included, have all been quite awful this season and in a any other campaign any one of us could have easily been cast adrift. We should all thank our lucky stars that there are four other teams in as bad shape, giving us all hope for celebration and relief come May. It truly is three from five to go down and as things stand It’s advantage QPR, sitting on top of that shameful pile. That could all change very quickly in the coming weeks unless we start getting ourselves together though. With three of the top sides to play soon we cannot afford another slip up on Saturday. If we lose at Bolton I fear the writing will be well and truly on the wall for us. Win and who knows what it might do for our belief. We were significantly better during the draw with Everton and we’ll need to continue to push on from there if we’re to get the desired result at Bolton. Certainly we’ll be boosted by the returns of Cisse and Diakite, both of whom should be chomping at the bit to prove their worth after two silly and unnecessary suspensions. Cisse’s return in particular is a welcome one and will hopefully give Zamora some much needed support up front. In truth it’s fairly hard to assess any kind of form, both sides have been through some quite horrible results and no one can have any real clue how things will go this weekend. I’m going to take a punt on QPR to win this one though for two reasons, firstly because we simply have to but mostly because I’ll be on the other side of the Atlantic and will no doubt miss a glorious afternoon in Bolton! So with that in mind I’ll have this weeks ten quid on 2-1 Rangers win at 9/1.
We haven't got a particularly good record up there, I remember a snowy 6-4 defeat there back in the early 70s so let's hope we can buck the trend with a win...
