Steinsson won't blame injuries

Steinsson won't blame injuries

Published Jan. 1, 2012 1:16 p.m. ET

The Trotters began 2012 at the bottom of the table after they could only draw 1-1 with Wolves at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday while Blackburn beat Manchester United at Old Trafford. It was only Bolton's fourth point at home this season but there was some good news with their goal scored by full-back Sam Ricketts on his return from more than 10 months out with a ruptured Achilles. Boss Owen Coyle has consistently referred to his injury list in explaining their poor start to the season, with the likes of Stuart Holden, Lee Chung-yong, Sean Davis and Tyrone Mears all long-term absentees. While acknowledging that has not helped their cause, Iceland international Steinsson believes the players who have been available should have been more than good enough to keep them out of the bottom three. He said: "It's really good for the squad to get these players back. Sean is back again too and he's a fantastic player that unfortunately we never really saw at his best when he came to Bolton. "Tyrone Mears is coming back, Chung is coming back and unfortunately we have to wait a little bit longer for Stuart but these are really good players and their absence definitely makes it harder on the team. "But nevertheless the players are good enough that are available at the moment and we've got into this situation by ourselves, not because anyone was injured. "We got ourselves into this by how we played and now we have to get ourselves out of it because it's our own fault. We have to man up and get these points that we need. I think we've got enough characters and experienced players." It was certainly an improved performance from Bolton on Saturday and they deserved the lead given to them in the 22nd minute by Ricketts with a superb shot from outside the box. The defender then gave away the free-kick from which Wolves equalised four minutes into the second half through Steven Fletcher, and both sides missed chances to win it. Steinsson said: "I think we dominated the first half and played really well. The second half was more even, they got a good start with a free-kick that I don't think was a free-kick, I thought it was a fair shoulder-to-shoulder challenge. "But at the end I think it's good to grind out a result and keep a point. That's something we haven't been doing well enough. We're picking up points a bit more consistently than we have been and hopefully we can build on that." Steinsson paid tribute to Wales international Ricketts, who netted his first goal since a 4-0 win for previous club Hull over Southend in March 2007. "People don't realise how hard it is to have a long-term injury and coming back and scoring that fantastic goal just shows his character," said Steinsson. "And with his whole family in the stands as well, I'm really proud of him." It was also a big afternoon for the Icelander, who has spent a lot of this season on the bench. When he finally did earn a start in the win over Blackburn two weeks ago, he promptly found himself out of the team again through illness. He said: "I waited a long time to be in the team against Blackburn and I was hoping to get a start against Newcastle but unfortunately I had to be in bed instead. "I'm really glad I got to start again. Unfortunately we couldn't get the three points like last time but a point is a point and at the moment we'll take every point possible." Bolton are next in action on Wednesday, when they travel to Goodison Park to take on Everton. "This game was the biggest game of the season and the next game will be the biggest game of the season," added Steinsson. "We just have to address every game like this is the last game we'll ever play."

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