Bolton boss believes his side have the ability to cause high-flying Watford problems this weekend
Dougie Freedman believes that tactics will be crucial in Wanderers’ trip to high-flying Watford this weekend.
Bolton travel to Vicarage Road looking to bounce back from the cruel defeat to Premier League Everton in last Saturday’s FA Cup fourth round clash.
The Hornets have been impressive in front of goal this term, but, providing his players stick to their task, Freedman believes that the Whites can cause plenty of problems for the hosts too.
Speaking at his Thursday press conference, the manager said: “I’m looking forward to the game because, although we lost on Saturday, I thought we gave a fantastic performance. It was a very structured game, we were focussed and we played good football.
“Watford are a good team and they’re flying high. But I feel we’ve been a little unlucky lately and, apart from the win at Sunderland and the point we got at Palace, our results haven’t been a true reflection of the form we’ve been in.
“The system that we are likely to come up against is a little bit different because they have often used three at the back with wing backs. It can be difficult to play against if we don’t get it right but we’ve got a game-plan and if we stick to that I think we can cause them problems.
“I think we’re very tactically aware and if we perform as a team and individually, I think we’ll do well.”
Freedman is happy with the progress his team have been making in recent weeks on the pitch, and the return of players from long-term injury has provided further cause for optimism.
He added: “I can see we’ve still got a long way to go, but I feel we’re on the right lines. Looking at the Millwall game, for example, we had 70-odd per cent of the possession and we played a very controlled game. That’s what I wanted to do when I came here.
“We’ve got David Wheater and Mark Davies coming back into the squad as well and they will be like a couple of new signings."