Owen Coyle says Fabrice Muamba continues to improve

BOLTON manager Owen Coyle has praised the resilience of his squad after an emotional fortnight and insists they are focused on the job in hand against Wolves this weekend.

Bolton’s players are still coming to terms with the collapse of team-mate Fabrice Muamba during the first half of their FA Cup tie at Tottenham almost two weeks ago.

Coyle, who has been a regular visitor to Muamba at the London Chest Hospital during his recuperation from the cardiac arrest, said that the midfielder is showing “continued improvement”.

“He continues to get better, but remaining in intensive care,” Coyle said. “When we went the other day and managed to see him, we could see the continued improvement and that all bodes well. The well-wishes have been really supportive and helped him no end, and I think he has taken great strength from that. That will help in his continued fight to recover.”

The Trotters lost the rescheduled FA Cup game 3-1 at White Hart Lane on Tuesday night, in what was an emotional return to the ground.

But Coyle insists his team are ready for the relegation clash against at Molineux tomorrow. Wolves are bottom of the Barclays Premier League having lost their last four games, whereas Bolton are looking for their third consecutive league win after beating QPR and Blackburn.

“The players have always been an honest and conscientious group in the way they have conducted themselves in difficult circumstances,” Coyle said. “I think they’ve been a credit to themselves and to the club. It’s important that we continue in that vein on a football front.

“We had to get back to that after the dramatic events of what happened and they did that and they continue to knuckle down. That doesn’t take away from the fact that we’re all thinking about Fabrice, but we have to give Fabrice and the family that bit of time and space to recover.”

Coyle believes the ethos at the club will help to see them through the remaining games in the season and ensure their place in the top flight next season. “The football club is a very positive football club and it’s always very consistent and balanced,” Coyle said. “That’s always remained the same and on a football front we have to make sure we bring all that positivity and all that energy.

“The positivity that we need to continue in the remaining games in the Barclays Premier League, that’s what’s left now to focus on, after going out of the quarter-final of the FA Cup to Tottenham the other night.”