>
>
Bolton and Stoke will be fighting it out for a place in the FA Cup final when they meet at Wembley on Sunday.
The two Premier League clubs do battle in this extremely tough to call semi-final tie. Both teams are comfortably adrift of the relegation zone in the league, so the FA Cup is the competition that the rest of their season depends upon.
To make it to an FA Cup final would be an excellent achievement for both teams and one which will show how far they have come.
Sunday’s game is also testament to how fantastic a job Owen Coyle and Tony Pulis have done. They deserve the day out at Wembley and should be proud of making it this far.
This doesn’t mean they want the journey to end here though. Far from it. Both managers will be doing all they can to make it through to the final and will prepare their team as well as possible.
Looking at Stoke City specifically, they have progressed so far as a club over the last few years. They are now an established Premier League club that can cause problems for the best teams in the league on their day.
Their brand of football is often criticised, but they have got to where they are today through hard work and commitment to being a success. You can’t knock them for that.
As for Bolton, they have been excellent since Coyle took over. Many questioned his motives when he quit Burnley to go to the Reebok Stadium, but it has been a perfect fit and Wanderers are a very good Premier League team.
To reach an FA Cup final would be reward for how well these teams have done of late and it will be good to see a team from outside the top five or six clubs in England make it to the final.
There is no doubt they will be the underdogs to win the trophy, no matter which Manchester side makes it through in the other semi-final, but this would suit Bolton and Stoke just fine.
It is all about getting through this Sunday first though and it could end up being about which group of players handles the pressure better.
Each team has individuals they need to perform, with the experienced Kevin Davies a key man for Bolton and the ever threatening Matthew Etherington crucial to everything The Potters do well.
Coyle’s men will probably be slight favourites for this one given their higher league position, but it really is an extremely tough game to predict.
