Bolton Wanderers Boss Debunked Injury “Allegations” Vows Against Birmingham City Clash To Night

Bolton Wanderers boss wants to go toe-to-toe with Birmingham

STEVEN Schumacher has pledged not to take a backward step against League One champions elect Birmingham City tonight.

More than 25,000 fans are expected to pack in to the Toughsheet Stadium knowing that a win for Bolton could propel them into the play-off places.

Wanderers looked passive when the two teams met at St Andrew’s in October, and Chris Davies’s Blues have since taken a firm grip of the title race, now leading second-placed Wycombe by a dozen points.

Schumacher acknowledges tonight’s visitors are the strongest squad in the division and expects them to rubber-stamp their return to the Championship well before the season is out. But asked whether his first instinct would be to contain a team beaten just twice in the league so far, the Bolton boss insists it would be the wrong message to send out

Not for me,” he told The Bolton News. “At Plymouth a couple of years ago we came up against Ipswich Town, who at the time probably had the best players in the division, and I always said to our lads: ‘If you stand off them and admire them, then they will show you how good they are.’

“We tended to go toe-to-toe and try and make them prove how good they were. And I think I have the similar sort of attitude against Birmingham.

“I know there will be times where we have to sit in and be compact and not be easy to break down and play through, but there will also be times where we have to be aggressive, go and try and win the ball, so that’s what we’ll do.”

Having taken a hard-earned point at Wrexham on Saturday, Schumacher is motivated by the prospect of maintaining an unbeaten run as the club approaches the final dozen games of the season, starting with Burton on Saturday.

Wanderers were buoyed by their first clean sheet under the new manager and will have to work just as hard – if not harder – to keep out a team which has obliterated the rest of the division with their spending power since last summer.

“I think we’re in a good spot at the moment,” Schumacher said. “I said when I came here that we needed to make sure that this stadium isn’t easy for anyone to come and play at. And I have been pretty pleased with the two games we have had here so far.

“I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be an easy game for Birmingham either.

“On Saturday I was happy with a lot of the stuff I saw. Wrexham are a real tough opponent, they have been up pretty much in the top six all season, and it is not easy for anyone to go there and win. I know they’ve had a couple of poor results of late but that was a really fired-up Wrexham team, you could tell on Saturday they were at it, and we had to stand up to that.

“We rode our luck at times but we also hit the bar and missed a big chance ourselves – the keeper made a great sabe later on in the game. And in my opinion we more than matched them, so we have to try and do the same against Birmingham.

“Yes, it is going to be a tough game. They are top of the league for a reason, clear by 12 points because they are so strong. But we can’t fear that. We have got to go and embrace it and attack the game where we can.”