Bolton In Early Relegation Battle Admits Speed

Gary Speed
By Mark Heys
October 1 2007

Bolton Wanderers player/coach Gary Speed has admitted that his side are now embroiled in a relegation battle and he has called upon the team to roll up their sleeves in order to get out of the lowly position they currently find themselves in.

Speed was part of the Bolton side which could only muster a 1-1 draw with bottom club Derby County at the weekend and this result means that the Wanderers stay just above the Rams in nineteenth position for the third successive week.

"I don't think the league lies, When you are down there, things don't seem to go your way." said the former Welsh international after the game at Pride Park

 But you can't always look back and blame other things. Eight games have gone and we've got only five points, so that says everything."

The 38-year old says the root of the problem is the lack of clean sheets, with the Trotters only having registered one all season against Reading, a game in which they won 3-0 at the end of August.

"The problem is we've stopped keeping clean sheets. There's been only one and we won that game. With the likes of (El-Hadji) Diouf and (Nicolas) Anelka in the team, we're always going to score, so we need to shut things out."

He admitted Bolton where now tangled up in the relegation mix and stressed  that the club will have to roll their sleeves up in recent weeks or face the consequences of a long hard season.

"Certainly it's a relegation battle, but you can do one of two things - you can wilt and die or you can roll up your sleeves and work even harder."

Bolton face FK Rabotnicki at the Reebok Stadium on Thursday evening in their first round, second leg UEFA Cup tie and this is then followed by a home game against Chelsea and a trip to Arsenal.