Coyle not giving up hope

Bolton manager Owen Coyle has refused to give up on avoiding relegation despite his side’s 2-2 with West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

Bolton gave up a 2-0 lead against WBA but Coyle believes his side’s good away form will serve them in good stead when they travel to Stoke on the final day of the season.

A win on Sunday would have put Bolton equal with QPR but Coyle’s side can still stay in the Premier League if they beat Stoke and QPR lose to Manchester City on May 13.

“We still have an opportunity to go and right everything that was wrong,” Coyle said.

“We have the opportunity to win a tough game at a tough venue.

“But we have shown on our travels that we can pick up results.

“I think we have six wins away from home.

“We have shown we can win away from home, so we have to go and do it again.”

Bolton led 2-0 with 18 minutes left against WBA but the visitors stole a draw thanks to goals from Chris Brunt (75th minute) and James Morrison (90th minute).

Coyle was incredibly disappointed.

“At 2-0 up we should have seen the game out and had the three points we craved and wanted,” Coyle said.

“My disappointment in terms of the game is that we’ve allowed that to slip away.

“It didn’t have to be pretty, but it has to be effective, and we were neither.

“We didn’t retain possession and although we dropped deep, we didn’t make sure we tracked our opponents.”

WBA manager Roy Hodgson missed the post-match interview after his busy media week where he was named England’s next national team manager.

His assistant Keith Downing, took the opportunity to praise his boss.

“There is a warmth for the manager within the club, which was renowned for going up and down before he stabilised it,” Downing said.

“The players all believe he is a manager who can improve their game.”