Coyle accepts responsibility

Bolton manager Owen Coyle says that he accepts responsibility for his side's position at the bottom of the league.

Wanderers boss disappointed with another defeat at Craven Cottage

Bolton manager Owen Coyle says that he accepts responsibility for his side's position at the bottom of the Premier League. Wanderers lost 2-0 to Fulham on Saturday afternoon as two goals in two minutes from Clint Dempsey and Bryan Ruiz capitalised on some poor defending. Bolton go to north west rivals Blackburn on Tuesday night and are in desperate need of a positive result as they run the risk of staying bottom over Christmas. Coyle admitted his disappointment after another defeat but still remains confident that the side can turn things around. He said: "We need to go to Blackburn now and that's a huge game for us. There's no doubt that when you're on a poor run as we are then the next game becomes even bigger. Tuesday night is now the biggest game of the season. "I think if you analysed the whole game there isn't much in it, but they've had two very good finishes and we've defended poorly on two instances."

Dangerous

He continued: "My chairman and my owner know exactly what I'm doing at the football club and how we want to proceed in terms of the long term. "Equally everything I put in place for the longevity at the club has to be backed up by results in the Premier League. "We have to accept we're in a dogfight in a dangerous area of the league and we have to address that. The only way of doing that is by winning games. "As a manager I accept total responsibility for that. I could understand why fans would be frustrated because I certainly am." Coyle insisted he was not looking to make excuses for the barren run of form but believes injuries to key players have been key.

Passionate

"I'm passionate about this football club, I came to Bolton to do the job," he said. "There's no doubt that we've been hampered by injuries to probably our two best players, Stuart Holden and Chung-yong Li. "But having said that, that happens up and down the country. The problem we have is we don't have like-for-like replacements. Even with that, I don't think any of us would have envisaged where we are at the moment. "I'm not going to look to make excuses. You have to stand up and be counted and I'm prepared to do that. "Where we are we can only improve. I've said to the players to take the fear out of their game. We know there's good players there, confidence is key."