Midfield Dilemmas for McCarthy at Bolton Tuesday, 8th Mar 2016 06:00 Town boss Mick McCarthy admits he has decisions to make in central midfield tonight when the Blues take on bottom-of-the-table Bolton Wanderers with Cole Skuse and Jonathan Douglas available after injury but with Kevin Foley and Luke Hyam having been impressive during Saturday’s 1-0 home victory over Nottingham Forest. For much of the season McCarthy has had the opposite problem of having few central midfielders with Hyam having missed much of the first half of the campaign with a knee injury, Teddy Bishop still not ready to return after his hamstring problems and Kevin Bru also having been sidelined on a couple of occasions, while Douglas was recently suspended for three games following his red card at Birmingham. “I prefer this problem,” McCarthy said, comparing the two situations. “I thought Kevin Foley was the standout, he was different class on Saturday. “And Hyamsy coming back from injuries, I thought the two of them were excellent, to be honest. But I have got fresh legs if needed as well. “Injuries have caused a few of our players problems, to be honest with you, some that just keep getting them. “Luke Hyam came back and was really good but he’s had a couple of really niggly injuries afterwards, and Kevin Bru’s been the same. But when he’s fully fit he’s been a really good player for us.” Also making his mark in the last two games has been on-loan Fulham man Ben Pringle, the winning goalscorer two weeks running. “It helps when it works and it’s worked with this one,” McCarthy added. “But I wasn’t taking a gamble on somebody who didn’t know the Championship. “I was taking a player in who I liked, who I’d tried to sign before and he’s played a lot of games at this level. And he’s just proving to be a really good signing. And he’s a great guy and all.” Saturday also saw Freddie Sears playing up front in his preferred role, alongside 10-goal top scorer Brett Pitman, rather than out wide as he has been for much of the season. “They’re both good players,” the Town manager continued. “Freddie wants to play up front, we all know that and sometimes it’s needs must. “He’s been brilliant wherever he’s played, whether he’s played in a three, which we have done, he’s played wide right, wide left. But he wants to play up front, of course he does.” Reflecting on the 1-0 win against Forest, McCarthy says it contrasted greatly with the 1-0 victory at Huddersfield last week. “It certainly was different. I know Forest attacked us when they had the ball but they are a team who sit back and play parasite football, they feed on mistakes. “To be fair, some of their chances in the first half came from us giving the ball away and I thought that was a bit of an irony because we passed the ball really well, and had to do because of the way they played. “And there was room to play in parts of the pitch that they don’t defend as well as they do other parts. “They were two different games, same result. I’ll settle for another one and the same result again. If we can find another way of winning one on Tuesday night that would be good.” With the Blues facing three games in eight days - while travelling 1,000 miles to and from the games at Bolton and Cardiff - the cryotherapy unit was at Playford Road on Monday morning. The players enter a chamber at temperatures down to -130°C for around two minutes while wearing nothing other than shorts, protection against frostbite on their knees and elbows, gloves, goggles and a hat. “It’s a great piece of kit,” McCarthy said. “I didn’t realise but Watford use it every week now and Leicester have got one of their own, they bought one. “We’ve used it for a long time now, Lids [fitness coach Andy Liddell] and [physio] Matt Byard, they got that in. It was a really good initiative getting that in, there's no doubt it helps us recover.” Given their current position 10 points from safety, McCarthy says Wanderers desperately need to win their home games. “It’ll be a scrap,” he said. “They’ve been playing with a diamond or two up and one in behind and I can’t believe that they’ll change that. “There’s no point in them doing anything other than trying to win the game. “They’ve got to try and win the game. A draw’s no good to them, not in the position they’re in.” The Blues boss says there’s usually a familiar story at clubs who are struggling in relegation zones. “I think if you look at the bottom of the league it’s been teams that have had upheaval, changes in managers, protests outside the ground,” he added. “And I think in all the leagues it’s not something weird that the clubs that have had [off-field] problems are the ones down near the bottom and poor old Lenny [manager Neil Lennon] has had to suffer with a hundred-odd million debt and they’ve had their own trials and tribulations. “It’s being taken over now and at one stage it looked like they were going to get out of it, but I think they’re now 10 points from safety. “It’s been a really tough season for Lenny, I think he’s done well to keep his powder dry. Having been used to winning leagues and being successful with Celtic, it must have been really tough for him, but I counter all that with the fact that they’ve got good players. “We watched their game yesterday and they are capable of winning games, as has been proven, so I certainly won’t be taking them lightly because they’ve had problems.” McCarthy believes Lennon has what it takes to turn Bolton around: “It’s a different kind of pressure [than at Celtic where there’s] pressure that when you play you expect to win and there are no real excuses if you don’t win. You’ve got the best players, the best club. All right, Rangers fans would argue with that, but that is the pressure in Scotland. “You’ve got to win, you’ve got to win the league, there’s nothing below that. You’ve got to win the league, for both Celtic and Rangers, when they’re in the same league, of course.
“It’s different at Bolton. I don’t know his full circumstances there, but I thought when they came here they were a handy team, they played well for long periods in the game. “And I think he’s the man to turn it around because he’s had success wherever he’s been.” McCarthy says teams looking destined for the drop can sometimes play with surprising freedom. “Strangely enough I’ve been in teams fighting relegation and there comes a time where you almost relax and just play football, thinking that it’s a done deal, without accepting it and just giving the rest of the games away and going down,” he said. “You suddenly start playing with a freedom and an ability and you think ‘Where the hell did that come from? How have we managed to play like that when all season long it’s been a toil and a struggle?’. “I’m hoping that’s not the case on Tuesday night, I’m hoping they’re still feeling the pressure and don’t play particularly well. Because if they do have their day they’ve got good players.” McCarthy says he’s not yet giving any thought to Saturday’s game against fellow play-off contenders Cardiff, two places and one point ahead of ninth-placed Town. “Who have we got Saturday?” he joked. “I’m not worried about Cardiff at all, not until we’ve played this one. “Strangely enough, I’d take a win out of both games rather than two draws. We’re going to go and try and win this and we’ll take Saturday’s game when it comes.” Depending on how Birmingham get on at Blackburn, Sheffield Wednesday fare at Brighton and the Bluebirds' result at home to Leeds, the Blues be back in the top six if they win this evening. McCarthy is likely to stick with his usual back five with Bartosz Bialkowski in goal, skipper Luke Chambers and Jonas Knudsen the full-backs and Tommy Smith and Christophe Berra the centre-halves. In midfield, the Blues boss faces his selection dilemma but will probably reward Foley for his excellent performance on Saturday with one of the central midfield roles, which may see Cole Skuse taking a rare place on the substitutes’ bench. Luke Hyam may well continue in the other role with Jonathan Douglas, like Skuse back from injury, also amongst the subs. Andre Dozzell played for the U21s yesterday so didn't travel with the first-team squad. Ben Pringle will be on the left with Kevin Bru probably on the right having overcome the sickness bug which forced him off at half-time on Saturday. Up front, Freddie Sears again seems likely to be partnered by Brett Pitman. Daryl Murphy is a doubt with a calf problem but could be on the bench. Veteran former England frontman Emile Heskey is a concern for Bolton with a hip injury, while David Wheater has a hamstring problem. Ben Amos (ankle), Dorian Dervite (ankle) and Max Clayton (hamstring) all have long-term injuries. Yesterday, Bolton had a winding-up petition relating to £2.2 million in tax adjourned at the High Court to allow former striker Dean Holdsworth's Sports Shield group consortium time to complete their takeover, which has been given conditional approval by the Football League. Historically, the Blues just have the edge, having won 18 times (16 in the league), Bolton 13 (nine) and with nine (eight) games between the teams ending in draws. Town are unbeaten in seven against Bolton, winning five and drawing two. Their last defeat was a 3-1 reverse in the FA Cup in January 2005. The Blues' last defeat at Bolton was the 4-1 loss which all but confirmed relegation from the Premier League in April 2002. The Trotters are currently without a win in five games, four defeats and one draw. They have lost their last three and if they are defeated by the Blues will have lost four on the trot for the first time this season. But despite their parlous position, they have only lost four games at home this season, drawing nine and winning four. In November at Portman Road, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Brett Pitman were on target as the Blues beat Bolton 2-0 to end their seven-game autumn winless run. Maitland-Niles put Town ahead in the 13th minute with his first senior goal, then Pitman smashed home a brilliant second on 70 to seal the three points. Last time at the Macron Stadium in December 2014, Town dropped to fourth as the teams drew 0-0. After an evenly balanced first half in which the home side had the better opportunities, the Blues were on top for much of the second period with Tabb twice going close to breaking the deadlock. Town midfielder Giles Coke was on loan at the Macron Stadium between March and May last season, making three starts and one sub appearance. Former Blue Liam Trotter is now back with Bolton, the midfielder having been on loan at Nottingham Forest earlier in the season when he scored a last-gasp equaliser on his debut against Town. Trotters midfielder or right-back Lawrie Wilson had a trial at Portman Road in 2006 while a Charlton player. He joined Bolton after ending his second spell with the Addicks in the summer and has recently returned from a loan spell at Peterborough. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Burnden Park Disaster, Bolton’s players will wear a special third kit during the game against the Blues, bearing the names of the 33 fans who died. The supporters were killed in a crush during an FA Cup quarter-final against Stoke City at Burnden Park, Bolton’s former home, on March 9th 1946. There will also be a minute’s silence before kick-off, while Wanderers are holding a memorial service at the Macron Stadium on Wednesday. Tonight’s referee is Mark Haywood from West Yorkshire, who has shown 60 yellow cards and six red in 25 games so far this season. Haywood’s last Town match was the 2-1 win at Fulham February last year in which he booked Berra, Skuse and Bru as well as one Cottager. Prior to that he was in charge of the 0-0 home draw with Blackpool in February 2014, in which he booked three visiting players. He also refereed the 1-1 home draw with Bristol City in December 2012, the 0-0 draw at Derby in April 2012 and the 3-0 win away against the Robins on the opening day of the 2011/12 season. Squad from: Bialkowski, Gerken, Chambers (c), Knudsen, Foley, Berra, Smith, Digby, Hyam, Douglas, Skuse, Tabb, Bru, Pringle, Maitland-Niles, Touré, Sears, Pitman, Murphy, Varney.
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