Megson hopes for Elmander boost

Trotters chief delighted for striker, Zola left deflated

Last updated: 23rd September 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Megson hopes for Elmander boost

Elmander: Slides in for his goal

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Bolton boss Gary Megson hopes Johan Elmander can build on his first goal in nine months to prove his critics wrong.

Elmander scored Bolton's third goal in their 3-1 extra-time win over West Ham in their Carling Cup third-round tie at the Reebok Stadium.

Kevin Davies sent the game into extra-time when he cancelled out Herita Ilunga's opener for West Ham before Gary Cahill and Elmander won the tie for Bolton in the additional 30 minutes.

Elmander's strike was his first club goal in any competition since 13th December - a run of 22 matches - and Megson believes the Swede can play to his best now the pressure has been lifted.

Desperate

"Johan was so desperate to score he was snatching at it," said Megson.

"If he takes his time, with the quality he has, I'm sure he will finish more but that [goal] will do him the world of good.

"Everyone is concerned about his lack of goals, none more so than Johan.

"He wants to do well and if his personality was different and he thought, 'stuff it, I can't be bothered', he probably would have scored before now.

"But because he gets so intense and is so determined to score at times he is not relaxed.

"I really do hope that goal relaxes him a bit because the arrival of Ivan Klasnic (on loan from Nantes) will put both him and Kevin Davies under pressure.

"But I'm not ready to give up on Johan Elmander and no-one at the club is either."

Disappointed

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola was disappointed with his side's finishing, admitting he could not see Bolton getting back into the game until Davies pounced late on.

"With the way things were going on the pitch I was not expecting that. I was waiting for the second goal to come at any moment - it was very disappointing," said Zola.

"When you build up a lot of chances you have to do better and when you play teams like Bolton you can expect a corner can cause problems.

"There are moments in the game when you have to raise your attention and deal with those situations better."

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