OWEN Coyle has warned his players that he won’t accept second best heading into Friday night’s clash with Nottingham Forest.
The Whites boss had issued some final warnings within the dressing room after last weekend’s horror show defeat at Burnley but got the reaction he was looking for with a hard-fought three points against Derby County.
Now, the Glaswegian is laying down a hard line to his players after outlining the standards he expects ahead of their third match in the space of six days.
“I made two changes the other night and the truth is, I could have made six or seven,” he said.
“The lads know that, and I have got quality players sitting on my bench or even out of the squad at the moment that are itching to play their part.
“We have a win on the board now and that was important because I didn’t want us waiting around for four or five games wondering what Championship football is all about.
“It’s hard fought, there’s quality there but it’s a different style.
“You can see how tight it is, and there’s only one team as we’re talking right now that has won both of their first two games.
“It’s going to fluctuate week to week but we have to make sure we fight to produce consistent performances. If we do that, we’ll pick results up.”
Coyle will run the rule over Keith Andrews for tomorrow’s match after the Irishman sustained a broken nose in midweek following a clash of heads with team-mate Kevin Davies.
And the manager threw out a challenge to fellow midfielder Mark Davies to replicate the performance he showed against the Rams, after what was generally considered a real off day at Burnley.
“When these players have played below par, they know it. Mark Davies was beside himself after his performance at Turf Moor,” he said.
“I spoke to him at training on Monday and he mentioned it but you could tell that he was desperate to get out there.
“Outwith his football ability, I thought his workrate and the way he went crunching into tackles was outstanding.
“We are going to have to do that here in the Championship. Yes, we have got talented footballers, but we have to match up in the middle of the park.”
Meanwhile, Wanderers target Jay Spearing will be in the Liverpool squad that takes on Hearts in the Europa League in Edinburgh tonight.
Sources on Merseyside claim the 23-year-old has been given permission to leave Anfield and wants more time to mull over his decision.
It is also understood that former Wanderers right-back Gretar Steinsson has agreed terms with Turkish club Kayserispor.