Bolton Wanderers have been told to use January’s 7-1 defeat at the hands of Reading as motivation by manager Neil Lennon when the two teams meet at the Madejski tomorrow.
The club will be hoping to continue their recent resurgence which saw them go the whole of November unbeaten and rise to three points clear of the relegation zone in 18th.
Lennon, nominated as Championship manager of the month for November after overseeing three wins from four games, believes his players need a desire to avenge last season’s humiliation.
“I expect Reading to be turning their fortunes around as the season goes on, especially with the manager they have, but hopefully that won’t start against us,” he said.
“The players need to use last year’s result as motivation, they need to use the pain and that hurt that I’m sure they had after that game to go there and get a result.
“We are a different team now though. A week is a long time in football, and a year is a lifetime.”
The Northern Irishman has been impressed with the way his side have made strides to pull themselves clear of danger in the past few weeks.
He did however acknowledge the importance of keeping their recent momentum going, and stressed that Wanderers must improve results away from home.
“What has pleased me recently is the commitment of the team. They’ve thrown their bodies at things at times and we’re finishing games very well,” he added.
“In terms of possession, we’re well ahead of the opposition in the last four or five games and I want us to be a little bit more creative in the final third to make more of our possession.
“We are getting the wins now that we desperately needed, while in terms of performances we have been pleased, particularly with our home form.
“Our away form, though, has to improve if we are to have any realistic ambitions of making the play-offs.
“We’re trying to look up the table now, but we know it can change very quickly and we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.
“We’ve always tried to instil that mentality, and although we are now winning games, teams around us are doing so as well.
“It’s such an unpredictable league, so to find a little bit of consistency is good.”
Bolton will be looking to make it four wins from five games in the clash against the Royals at 3pm tomorrow.
Main image courtesy of BWFC via YouTube, with thanks.
