Bolton boss Owen Coyle admits likening William Gallas' tackle on
Mark Davies to an "assault" was "a bit strong."
Davies was taken off on a stretcher after Gallas' late
tackle during Bolton's 4-2 defeat at the Emirates Stadium on
Wednesday night, which left the midfielder with ankle ligament
damage but Coyle has now admitted the Arsenal defender showed no
malice in the tackle.
The challenge, which led to Arsenal's equaliser in a game
Wanderers had been winning 2-0, went unpunished by referee Alan
Wiley and Gallas is unlikely to face retrospective disciplinary
action from the Football Association.
Coyle likened the tackle to an assault in a post-match
interview but today indicated he did not think Gallas intended to
hurt Davies.
"Maybe (to say) an assault was a bit strong," Coyle said.
"But he certainly caught the lad. I don't think that any
professional, and I would certainly hope not, goes to purposely
hurt another player, but it was mis-timed - there is no doubt that
it was badly mis-timed.
"Mark Davies paid the price for that and we did as a team
because with a player lying on the ground, they have scored an
equaliser."
Asked for his reaction to Gallas escaping censure from the
FA, Coyle said: "That's up to the FA, but it won't result in us
getting any points from the game.
"They are the powers that be and they decide what happens and
what doesn't happen."
It is not yet known how long Davies is likely to be out of
action, although the 21-year-old will definitely miss Bolton's FA
Cup fourth-round tie against Sheffield United at the Reebok Stadium
on Saturday.
"Thankfully it's not broken but there is ligament damage
there and it will certainly rule him out of this weekend," Coyle
said.
"We'll be giving him extensive round-the-clock treatment and
he was terrific the other night with his performance levels so he's
a player we would like back in our squad as quickly as possible.
"We'll see what the weekend brings, but he's a young lad and
a quick healer I'm led to believe."
