Bolton boss Owen Coyle believes an FA Cup run could provide the springboard for their Premier League survival bid.
Trotters boss looks for players to boost survival bid with cup run
Bolton boss Owen Coyle believes an FA Cup run could provide the springboard for their Premier League survival bid.
The Trotters are currently second from bottom in the Premier League as they head into what will be a testing fifth round FA Cup tie against Millwall.
There are some pundits who believe the Lancashire club could do without the added fixture so that they can concentrate their efforts on survival.
However, that is not a view shared by Coyle who took the club to the FA Cup semi-final last year and helped them claim fourth place.
"The FA Cup is the best cup competition in world football - if anybody thinks otherwise, I would take issue with that," Coyle said.
Confidence
"We have a tremendous history and tradition and a lot of it involves the FA Cup.
"We want to go as far as we can and if you can win games in football, it is certainly never a distraction.
"What it does is breed confidence and gives everybody a lift, and that is why we are looking forward to this game."
Bolton suffered a shock 2-1 defeat last weekend against basement club Wigan, which was their second consecutive loss.
It came at the end of an encouraging spell in which they had been beaten only once in eight games and prompted a stinging rebuke from Nigel Reo-Coker, who claimed the players lacked commitment.
Passionate
However, Coyle tried to defuse those comments when he was asked about them.
He added: "The bottom line is that I have a group of players who go out wanting to play well in every game.
"Nobody ever goes out to play a bad game, and if there are reasons why it happens, then you look at it.
"In the heat of the moment things will be said because people are passionate, but that doesn't make them right.
"Our players are desperate to win games and that is what we will look to do."
