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Coyle looking to push on

Image: Coyle: Work to be done

Owen Coyle is refusing to set targets and will only reflect on his efforts at the end of the season.

Trotters boss in no mood to relax and reflect

Bolton boss Owen Coyle is refusing to set targets and will only reflect on his efforts at end of the season. Coyle is approaching his one-year anniversary in the Trotters hot-seat, having taken the reins at the Reebok Stadium on 8th January 2010. During his 12 months at the helm, he has helped to turn Bolton from relegation scrappers into European contenders. The club sit seventh in the Premier League as they prepare to play host to Wigan on Wednesday, in what will be their first home game of 2011. Such success has led to suggestions that the Trotters could secure qualification for continental competition, with a top-six finish very much on the cards. Coyle, though, is refusing to get caught up in the hype and insists he will continue to keep his eye on the ball until the campaign comes to a close. "I have the same target now as I did prior to the season starting - continued improvement for the football club," he said. "That is where we are at and how we look at it. We don't think we want to be here, there or wherever. What I want is improvement, which comes in many forms and shapes.

Improving

"Where we are just now, we have certainly been improving but we need to carry on with that and come the end of the season, that is the time when you sit down and think 'have we improved as a football club, where do we now need further improvement?' "That is when I assess everything." Coyle, who saw his side go down 2-1 at Liverpool on New Year's Day, is hoping that his efforts will be aided over the coming weeks by the return to fitness of a number of key men. "I would hope that Ricardo Gardner (knee) and Jlloyd Samuel (calf) will be fit by the middle of January," he said. "They are doing little bits and pieces at the moment and they are certainly on their way back. "It's been a long time for those lads so we will have to make sure that we tread warily. "Sean Davis (knee) will be a while yet. He has just had an operation and we certainly hope when he does return that he can get himself to the level that he was at in the summer and come back with a real impact. "He won't be rushed, given everything that he has been through."

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