The Trotters were briefly top of the table after a 4-0 victory over QPR on the opening day of the season but now find themselves in the bottom three. A 2-1 home defeat by newly-promoted Norwich on Saturday made it four consecutive losses, leaving the Trotters with only three points from five games. There is no doubt Bolton were handed a tough start to the season, with three of their defeats coming against Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool, but that made Saturday's result all the more disappointing for boss Coyle. He said: "It's certainly a case of having some very tough fixtures, that's for sure. We were disappointed on Saturday because it's a game we probably felt we should be winning. "I think a few things conspired against us but ultimately we didn't perform well enough in the first half. The second half we certainly did and we were very unlucky not to salvage a point. "Given the set of fixtures, if we'd have been sitting here with six points, we'd have been in a very healthy position." With a trip to Arsenal to come on Saturday, Bolton could certainly do with a positive result at Villa Park on Tuesday night, and they will be boosted by the return of a much-missed figure. Midfielder Stuart Holden will made his first appearance since sustaining a serious knee injury in a match against Manchester United last March. Coyle, who led his side to the FA Cup semi-finals last season, said: "We love the cup and we love progressing as far as we can in any competition. "We'll still make changes because we had players sitting on the bench on Saturday who need some game time. Stuart Holden will start, which is another boost, and we'll see how far he's progressed. We have to make sure there's freshness and energy." Coyle will be forced into two changes, with defender Dedryck Boyata ineligible under the terms of his loan from Manchester City while Ivan Klasnic begins a three-match suspension. The striker was sent off at the end of the first half against Norwich for what was deemed a head-butt on Marc Tierney. Tierney appeared to go down very easily but, despite his unhappiness with the decision, Coyle feels an appeal would be counterproductive. The Scot said: "I think it was the assistant referee that sent him off and Ivan had his back to him so how he's able to see what happened (I don't know). I'm still not convinced there was any contact, either, but we have to move on. "In terms of appealing, because the pictures are inconclusive, the result would probably be he'd be given an extra game for what they deem to be a soft appeal. It's frustrating but it's happened and we have to pick ourselves up." Klasnic's dismissal was even more frustrating for player and club given he had earlier been clattered by a head high challenge from Leon Barnett, for which the Norwich player was not punished. Coyle added: "He was knocked out by the challenge, which resulted in no card whatsoever. And when you watch it back it certainly looks a horrendous challenge. "He wasn't late, he was very, very late and he's clattered him about the head. I don't know what ball the lad was going for but I'm not charged with making those decisions."
