Bolton boss Owen Coyle proud of near comeback against Birmingham City

FA Cup: Owen Coyle, Bolton

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Owen Coyle has praised his side’s performance despite Bolton’s 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City.

Goals from Kevin Philips and Craig Gardner gave Alex McLeish’s side a comfortable advantage, although Johan Elmander’s striker with 20 minutes to go threatened a lively close to the match.

But despite not being able to pull level, Coyle maintains he his side controlled most of the game.

“I think if we’re fair in our assessment Birmingham started the game far better than us,” said Coyle.

“Truth be told for the first 20 minutes they controlled that first period, but after that it was all us.

“Foster was outstanding. He made two outstanding saves from Daniel Sturridge alone in the first half and that’s why he’s a top class goalkeeper. He’s there to make those saves.”

Coyle also pointed out he fielded an attacking side to try and salvage a point but admitted Birmingham’s resilience shone through.

“A sluggish start again in the second half, they scored a very good goal. A good one two and a terrific strike that put them two in front,” Coyle admitted.

“You would have thought that Birmingham were comfortable but that wasn’t the case, they know how to keep going, we scored a terrific goal and the last 15 minutes were like the Alamo.

“We had such an offensive team on the pitch with Sturridge on the left, Lee on the right, Johan Almander and Taylor the central midfielders and we did everything we can to try and get a positive outcome from the game.

“Again Foster’s come up trumps with some big saves. Alex will be delighted with his goalkeeper, he’s pulled off some big saves.”

The 2-1 loss leaves Bolton comfortably in eighth place on 40 points and contending for a European place but Coyle admits his side must start better in their remaining games.

He said: “People alluded to a semi-final coming up but I’ve told them in there that we’ve worked hard for 10 or 12 months and we want to make sure we have a big finish to the season.

“We do feel hard done by to be leaving with nothing but that’s the margins in the Premier League. 

“You can’t be giving teams a two-goal headstart, with all the quality we have at our disposal it’s tough to come back but we nearly did it.”