The Potters were run ragged at the Reebok Stadium as they suffered a third successive Premier League defeat, leaving them just three points clear of the relegation zone in 12th. However, Coates has assured fans that the club can move on from the thrashing and bounce back after the international break. He told The Sentinel: "I always quote Muhammad Ali at times like this - 'It's not the going down, it's the getting up that counts'. "It was a bad defeat and we didn't play well, but it's not the end of the world. Manchester United lost by six the other week. "We have a very fine squad and I think they will respond in a positive way." Stoke played Maccabi Tel-Aviv away in the Europa League last Thursday having faced Newcastle in the league just three days before. But like manager Tony Pulis, Coates refused to make excuses for their poor display at Bolton, adding: "We have had a tough schedule and a poor sequence of away results which happen to coincide with our away travel, but I am not relating the two because we do not want to make excuses." However, the chairman has revealed that Stoke requested last Monday's televised game against Newcastle be moved because of Stoke's trip to Israel. He said: "The Premier League pointed out that other clubs have been faced with the same thing, and I was satisfied with the examples they showed us." Coates has no doubt manager Pulis is the man to pull Stoke out of their current slump. "If you lose like that, nobody will feel worse than Tony Pulis," he added. "Not that I have ever had any reason to doubt his commitment to the job. "It is no good dwelling on these things though. You move on, and he's been in the game long enough to know it's how you come back from these disappointments that matters."
