Wigan Athletic vs Bolton Wanderers preview - Martinez not interested in early league standings - 7M sport

Wigan Athletic vs Bolton Wanderers preview - Martinez not interested in early league standings



I have a say

Posted Saturday, October 15, 2011 by PA

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez insists it would be wrong for anyone to draw conclusions from the current state of the Premier League table.

If they did, Manchester United would be claiming the title, with Manchester City and Chelsea in hot pursuit.

Rather more surprisingly, Newcastle could be looking at a Champions League berth and Arsenal would be in a relegation fight.

Much closer to home, both Wigan and tomorrow's opponents, local rivals Bolton, would be preparing to drop into the Championship.

It is hardly a shock therefore that Martinez is convinced present positions are misleading.

"If you are looking at the table and trying to draw any conclusions now, you are going to be wrong," he said.

"The difference between teams from 8th to 20th is very small and there are still the best part of eight months of the competition to go."

After only escaping the drop on the final day of last season, Wigan might have half expected to be in trouble again.

Yet it is opposite number Owen Coyle who finds himself under the spotlight, after following a woeful ending to last term, triggered by that FA Cup semi-final hammering by Stoke, with six successive losses following a handsome opening day win at QPR.

"Bolton won't be near the bottom at the end of the season," said Martinez.

"They have enough experience and know-how and the mentality to cope with this kind of pressure.

"I am not as extremist as other people.

"When you look at their opening seven fixtures, apart from that fantastic win at QPR and the home game against Norwich all the other games were ones anyone could lose.

"The real start of Bolton's season is the next few months.

"Owen controls his squad extremely well and I don't believe he is in a bad moment at all."

It might be overlooked somewhat in a region that can boast titanic clashes between the red and blue halves of Manchester and Merseyside, plus the inter-city rivalries that exist between the two areas, but the distance between Wigan and Bolton is a mere 7.6miles.

The gap is not filled with hate.

However, the healthy respect that exists instead is interspersed by a keen desire for victory, and these particular local bragging rights.

"Both clubs share the same sort of passion for these derbies," said Martinez.

"It is more than a football game. And the need for points is quite clear for both clubs."

Like Bolton, Wigan's solitary win this term came against QPR in August.

It completed a three-match unbeaten sequence against the newly-promoted sides that gave way to a lamentable September, results wise, which yielded not a single point.

Bolton boss Owen Coyle is not letting the statistics about his team's start to the Premier League season get him down.

Wanderers go into the clash lying bottom of the table having lost six league games in a row since they opened their campaign with a 4-0 win over QPR.

While that is concerning, it should be noted that within that sequence of defeats, the Trotters have been beaten by Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Coyle points to the fact that last term - during which they generally impressed before fading in the final weeks - Bolton only came away with one point from the same fixtures against those big-name clubs, suggesting that overall, it is the kind of thing one should not read too much into.

"Whatever it is, it is - that is the nature of football," Coyle said.

"I think everyone would concede last year, when we were probably performing at the top of our game, how good a team we were, but from that same group of five games against those clubs we only took one point.

"I think sometimes you get too caught up in whatever you want to in terms of facts and stats."

Coyle - who has had to deal with a series of injuries to his squad as well as the daunting fixture list - acknowledges Bolton need to up their game, but with matches against the likes of Sunderland, Swansea, Stoke and West Brom to come after Wigan, the Scot is feeling optimistic about Wanderers' prospects of turning their fortunes around.

"We are not happy with some of the performances we have given - we felt we could have performed better, and there is no getting away from that," Coyle said.

"We are always honest in our assessment of that and we know we can do better.

"But what we also know is that there is so much scope for improvement that it augurs well for when we do go and get that win and get up and running."

end



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