Coyle remains upbeat (From The Bolton News)

Coyle remains upbeat

6:10am Wednesday 10th February 2010

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OWEN Coyle remained upbeat after watching his side lose to Manchester City following a torrid few days for the Wanderers manager.

Bolton remain just one point above the relegation zone after losing 2-0 against their big-spending neighbours at Eastlands last night.

The loss came on the back of Saturday’s home draw with Fulham — where Wanderers were controversially denied a last-minute winner— and following news that star player Gary Cahill could miss the rest of the season after suffering a blood clot in his arm.

A Carlos Tevez penalty and Emmanuel Adebayor’s volley either side of half time was enough to ensure the Whites have now won just once in the Premier League in six attempts under the new manager.

But Coyle is still confident he can turn things around at the struggling Reebok club.

“We’ve come to a team that has cost £200-300million to assemble and we’ve made them look ordinary,” said the Bolton boss.

“I was delighted with the performance. I’m disappointed not to have taken any points but we’ve played Arsenal home and away, Liverpool away and now City away. It would have been bonus points against those bigger clubs but after the FA Cup tie (with Tottenham on Sunday) we’ve got six matches against teams in and around us.

“If we play like we have been doing then we’ll pick up points and, if we do that, then we’ll be fine.”

Coyle was unhappy with Mike Jones’s decision to award City a penalty after Paul Robinson brought down Adam Johnson, though the referee looked to have made the correct call.

He added: “We were disappointed to have conceded a soft penalty. I think the ball was going out.

“We probably should have had penalties of our own, especially when Kevin Davies was barged in the back.”

There was at least some good news for Coyle regarding Cahill. It was feared the influential defender would be ruled out for the rest of the campaign after being rushed into hospital over the weekend.

But following more tests on Monday, the 24-year-old, now out of hospital, could still play a part in Wanderers’ survival push.

Coyle said: “I never said he was finished for the season — I said he would be out for a number of months.

“I would love to think there was a glimmer of hope he could be back.”

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