Bolton face the Lions

Wednesday, 15/02/2012

by Emma Norris, Shoot's Bolton blogger

Many managers often see cup competitions as something of a distraction for their team, but I personally think they can be more of an advantage for sides.

Take Bolton for instance – despite the club’s current league predicament, Owen Coyle and his players have been taking the FA Cup seriously since our third round clash with lowly Macclesfield Town back in January.

Although we required a replay to progress, the manager put out a strong side for both matches and we were eventually rewarded with a place in the next round against Swansea.

Given Brendan Rodgers’ side’s excellent showing since their promotion last summer, it was far from a surprise when the Bolton boss picked a starting eleven that included no less than eight regular first team players.

Although they were given a scare by a less experienced Swansea side, Wanderers fought back from a goal down to set up a trip to the New Den this weekend to face Millwall.

A daunting place to visit at the best of times, the team travel to the capital on the back of consecutive defeats to Norwich City and Wigan in recent weeks.

Despite this, I believe that our cup exploits could be the key to regaining the confidence that we appeared to have in abundance not two weeks ago.

Following up on last season’s FA Cup run that ended in an unforgettable day for all the wrong reasons at the national stadium, it could be argued that this season could be the perfect chance for the team to banish their Wembley nightmare and push on in the league with the resulting confidence.

Although retaining our Premier League status is no doubt the main priority this season, who is to say that we cannot enjoy a bit of cup magic along the way?

Should we emerge victorious against the Lions, we are just one game away from reaching the semi-finals for the second year running. We must not get complacent though as Millwall will no doubt prove to be difficult opponents, regardless of their current situation.

There is no use in getting carried away with ourselves – after all, this is all theoretical pending our game this weekend. I just hope that the team can put their disappointment of the last few weeks behind them and recapture the FA Cup fever that gripped the club and its supporters not twelve months ago.

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