Dougie Freedman says players in bouyant mood following away win at the Stadium of Light
Dougie Freedman is hoping Wanderers can carry their recent positive performances into the weekend’s FA Cup clash with Everton at the Reebok.
Having seen off Premier League Sunderland in round three, the Whites’ reward is another home tie against top flight opposition in the shape of David Moyes’ high-flying Toffees.
Bolton followed up their Stadium of Light success with another clean sheet away at Crystal Palace last Saturday, and Freedman is hoping that his side can maintain a consistency which could cause an upset.
“The opportunity to go up against a Premier League side at home is great and I feel that, given the way we’ve been performing lately, we’ve got a chance. We’ll be looking to take our recent performances into this game and hopefully we can win the game,” the manager said at his Thursday press conference.
“The match against Everton is very exciting for the fans first and foremost. I think we thoroughly deserved to go through against Sunderland; we played very well over the two games and worked hard to get this opportunity.
“In my opinion, we’re playing a team who are good enough to finish in the top four. Everton have a structure in place where every player knows what they’re doing and that means that we have to be fully prepared.
“David Moyes has done very well and not just this season, but we’ll give it our best shot and we’ve got a lot of quality in our squad. The victory over Sunderland should give us confidence and we’re looking forward to this game.”
He added: “Any game that we play, particularly in front of our home fans, we want to do well and we’re eager to win; it will be no different on Saturday. The FA Cup is a very special competition and, even coming from Scotland, I always used to look at what was happening in England with the FA Cup final.
“Any competition we are involved in we will prepare for because we are professionals. We make sure that we train in the right way and you’re asking a team of young guys to express themselves against a Premier League side so this is very high up on our list of priorities.”