Davies escapes serious injury
21 Jan 2010 - 14:15:49
Midfielder Mark Davies did not suffer a serious ankle injury after being the victim of a controversial tackle from William Gallas during Bolton's 4-2 defeat at Arsenal on Wednesday night.
Trotters boss Owen Coyle accused Gallas of 'assaulting' his player after his 52nd minute lunge at Davies' ankle went unpunished by the referee.
To rub salt into the wounds, Arsenal went on to score an equalising goal with the midfielder lying prostrate on the Emirates Stadium pitch.
However, despite initial fears of a potential broken bone, scans have now revealed that Davies did not suffer a serious injury.
Speaking at full-time, a furious Coyle slammed both the tackle and the lack of punishment from referee Alan Wiley.
"I think it was closer to an assault than a tackle," he claimed.
"I would suggest it's probably closer to a sending-off as far as I'm concerned.
"The lad is prostrate on the ground and Arsenal, being full of fair play as we keep hearing, have carried on and scored an equaliser. That is hard to take.
"It was a bad tackle, there is no getting away from it.
"You can accept it if he gets a bit of the ball, because that is the game we play and it can happen, but he has not touched any of the ball and it rubs salt into the wounds."