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Shola Ameobi was pleased to see Bolton Wanderers avoid a cup upset against Eastleigh on Tuesday night.
Having fallen behind early on, the Whites fought back to secure a 3-2 victory with the Nigerian international emerging from the substitutes’ bench to set up Darren Pratley’s winning goal.
And with his contract with the club due to expire this weekend, Ameobi is hopeful that Bolton can build on the win and take confidence into Saturday’s clash with MK Dons.
“It was important that we didn’t slip up,” the forward told bwfc.co.uk after the final whistle. “It was a no-win situation for us as we were expected to win, but you’ve got to respect every team.
“This sort of tie is the type of game the FA Cup is all about, lower teams facing higher sides and you know they’re going to raise their game.
“There are countless giant-killings in the FA Cup every year and we didn’t want that to happen to us.
“We wanted to make sure we did a professional job so credit to our boys for getting the job done.
“Eastleigh had a number of quality players for the league that they’re in. They were very competent and it was always going to be tough for us
“But we didn’t give up. We knew that if we kept it simple that the quality would come through, and thankfully it did.
“We continued to press and in the second half we created plenty of chances which can give us a lot of confidence.”
Ameobi continued: “Things haven’t been going our way recently so it is vital to be able to get a win whenever you can.
“It is so important for us to get through to the next round, not only to create some confidence but to give the fans something to cheer as well.
“We’ve got to keep fighting. Things don’t always go your way and you need a lot of character and a lot of determination to fight through it.
“We showed that but the Championship is a different animal altogether. We have shown it in spells but we need to be more consistent.
“Momentum is important in football and it’s good for us to be going into the game on Saturday off the back of a win.
“Winning gives you confidence so hopefully we can build on that because it’s going to be an almighty battle on Saturday. We’re confident but we have to be.”
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Having fallen behind early on, the Whites fought back to secure a 3-2 victory with the Nigerian international emerging from the substitutes’ bench to set up Darren Pratley’s winning goal.
And with his contract with the club due to expire this weekend, Ameobi is hopeful that Bolton can build on the win and take confidence into Saturday’s clash with MK Dons.
“It was important that we didn’t slip up,” the forward told bwfc.co.uk after the final whistle. “It was a no-win situation for us as we were expected to win, but you’ve got to respect every team.
“This sort of tie is the type of game the FA Cup is all about, lower teams facing higher sides and you know they’re going to raise their game.
“There are countless giant-killings in the FA Cup every year and we didn’t want that to happen to us.
“We wanted to make sure we did a professional job so credit to our boys for getting the job done.
“Eastleigh had a number of quality players for the league that they’re in. They were very competent and it was always going to be tough for us
“But we didn’t give up. We knew that if we kept it simple that the quality would come through, and thankfully it did.
“We continued to press and in the second half we created plenty of chances which can give us a lot of confidence.”
Ameobi continued: “Things haven’t been going our way recently so it is vital to be able to get a win whenever you can.
“It is so important for us to get through to the next round, not only to create some confidence but to give the fans something to cheer as well.
“We’ve got to keep fighting. Things don’t always go your way and you need a lot of character and a lot of determination to fight through it.
“We showed that but the Championship is a different animal altogether. We have shown it in spells but we need to be more consistent.
“Momentum is important in football and it’s good for us to be going into the game on Saturday off the back of a win.
“Winning gives you confidence so hopefully we can build on that because it’s going to be an almighty battle on Saturday. We’re confident but we have to be.”
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