Coyle rues congested fixture list

Bolton manager Owen Coyle believes his side’s fixture congestion is just one of many factors that have gone against them this season.

The relegation battlers have two games in hand over their rivals and sit 18th on the Premier League table, two points behind QPR and five behind Wigan, who both have only four games to play.

Bolton have been also suffered long-term injuries to two key players – winger Lee Chung-Yong and midfielder Stuart Holden – plus the absence of Fabrice Muamba.

And the Scot believes that Roberto Martinez’s side have benefitted with Bolton’s lack of playing time following their wins against Manchester United and Arsenal.

“You’ve got to hand enormous credit to Wigan for the way they’ve gone about their job. But the bottom line is it didn’t matter what anyone else did. We’ll shape our own destiny and it’s in our own hands,” Coyle said.

“We’ve got six games left as opposed to everyone else having four and what we’ve got to do is gather the points that will keep us in the Premier League, and we’re more than capable of doing that.

“Ideally we’d have loved to have been playing but it’s one of the uncontrollables over the season that has gone against us.

“But we’ve never got too down or felt sorry for ourselves, we’ve got a smile on our face. There’s 18 points out there and we’ve got to gather as many as we can.”

The 45-year-old, however, refused to be drawn on the number of points his side will need if they are to fight off relegation.

“We need to make sure we get one more point than three other teams,” he said.

“If you asked people two months ago what the points target was it would certainly have been lower than what some teams are on now because everybody in and around us, as well as ourselves, have picked up.”

Bolton host Swansea this weekend, and Coyle is hoping his side can bounce back from two consecutive defeats.

But the ex-Burnley boss had much praise for the Welsh side.

“Swansea are a terrific side. They love being in possession of the ball, passing and moving, and they’ve been a tremendous addition to the Premier League,” he said.

“Every game is a tough game but we’re at home and we’re expecting another bumper crowd.

“We were on a terrific run when we won three back-to-back. In the last home game I felt the first half an hour against Fulham was okay.

“At Newcastle it was a terrific performance and on any other day we’d probably have won that game.”