Ricardo Gardner joins the list of absentees for Bolton's Barclays Premier League clash with Stoke at the Reebok Stadium on Sunday. Gardner is serving a one-match ban after being sent off in last week's 3-1 defeat at Swansea for collecting two yellow cards, and is likely to be replaced by Paul Robinson, who was benched for the game at the Liberty Stadium.
Boss Owen Coyle is still without long-term injured Tyrone Mears, Lee Chung-yong, Stuart Holden, Sean Davis and Sam Ricketts. Coyle is grateful to the club's fans for sparing him the abuse and protests being endured by Blackburn boss Steve Kean. Just 16 miles separate the two north-west clubs currently deep in relegation trouble after 10 games of the Barclays Premier League campaign. Yet whilst there is a section of support at Ewood Park determined to see Kean axed, Coyle so far appears to retain the respect of the Bolton faithful.
That was underlined last Saturday at Swansea's Liberty Stadium, where the Trotters slumped to their eighth defeat in nine games, but where fans unfurled a banner that read 'In Coyle We Trust'. Ahead of Sunday's visit of Stoke, where Bolton have lost all five of their league matches this season, Coyle appreciates his position could be far more uncomfortable.
"Our fans have been great, brilliant. I've said that from day one, and it goes without saying," said Coyle. "But equally we have to give those fans something to shout about. It can't be a one-way street all the time. "That is something we have done since coming to this club because we have raised expectations. "When we came in we were second bottom in the league and favourites for relegation, but we addressed that, and then last season we moved on with the quality of our football. "We know there have been reasons it could have been better this season, that goes without saying. "But I'm not going to sit here and hide behind excuses. We need to be doing better, regardless of what players we have missing. "We've good players at this club, and they have to start delivering on it to start moving us up the league. It's as simple as that. "When we won at Wigan (three weeks ago) perceptions changed, but since then a couple of opportunities have passed us by, at home to Sunderland and then at Swansea. "We know a win in either of those two games and it's a different conversation we are having. "That's why on Sunday we must go and look to win the game, to give everybody at the club a brighter outlook ahead of the international break."
Stoke boss Tony Pulis is keeping his fingers crossed that a number of his key players will have recovered from injury. Neither Ryan Shawcross nor Marc Wilson travelled to Israel for the Europa League clash with Maccabi Tel Aviv after picking up muscle injuries in the defeat by Newcastle on Monday while Matthew Etherington (back), Jermaine Pennant and Rory Delap were only fit enough for the bench. Danny Higginbotham came through 90 minutes on his return from seven months out with a cruciate ligament injury while Cameron Jerome and Jonathan Woodgate are back in the squad.
Bolton V Stoke - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game live.
Source: DSG
