Owen Coyle admits Bolton did not offer enough on an emotional night at White Hart Lane to prolong their FA Cup adventure.
Trotters boss accepts cup exit
Owen Coyle admits Bolton did not offer enough on an emotional night at White Hart Lane to prolong their FA Cup adventure.
The Trotters, who made the semi-finals last season, bowed out at the last-eight stage this term as they were beaten 3-1 by Tottenham.
Bolton were always going to find it difficult to keep their focus on their football as they returned to the scene of Fabrice Muamba's collapse 10 days earlier, and they never really got going.
Coyle conceded as much afterwards, with the Scot having no complaints about now focusing his full attention on a Premier League basement battle.
"There was a range of emotions, there is no doubt about that, but in terms of the football context, then of course you are disappointed to lose any game, but after what happened over the piece I don't think we can argue with it," he told
ESPN.
"Tottenham Hotspur were the better side over the duration of the game. There were moments in the match when we were well in it, our young goalkeeper again showed his quality and we had a great chance at 0-0, but I think that would have been harsh on Tottenham.
"But for all of the players, how they went out and showed the spirit that they did, being 2-0 down it would have been easy to feel sorry, but they kept going. I was delighted with how they went about it.
Emotions
"I think there were times we could have passed the ball better because we have players capable of doing that but, in terms of the game itself, we played it in a manner we should.
"The chants from all the fans, not just Bolton, for Fabrice were fantastic and that was great to hear. The injury to Darren Pratley, that again brings a range of emotions at the time."
Asked how Pratley, who was forced off after 28 minutes was faring, Coyle added: "He's on his way to hospital and we are hoping that it is a superficial wound, but there was a bad gash. The best scenario is that he will be out for 10 days to two weeks, the worst scenario is that it will be four to six weeks. We just need to wait and see on that."
While Bolton endured another night to forget in the capital on Tuesday, the performance of Adam Bogdan offered cause for optimism as he kept Spurs at bay almost single-handedly for 74 minutes.
On his Hungarian shot-stopper, Coyle said: "We have belief in him. We are very fortunate that we have terrific goalkeepers at this football club.
"We have Jussi (Jaaskelainen), who has helped in Adam's development as well, he has been one of the top performers in the Premier League for the last 10-12 years. I thought Adam was outstanding in the game."
