BOLTON boss Sam Allardyce today lit the blue touch paper ahead of tonight's promotion showdown at the Reebok by accusing Rovers skipper Garry Flitcroft of trying to shift the blame for his FA Cup dismissal.
Flitcroft suggested Wanderers midfielder Kevin Nolan had 'made a meal' of the ninth minute challenge which resulted in him being ordered off in last week's 1-1 draw.
But Reebok chief Allardyce claims Nolan was forced into taking evasive action otherwise he could have ended up with a broken leg.
"I know Garry Flitcroft well and he's wrong," said Allardyce.
"I can give him the video if he wants to see it and you can clearly see from the side and from behind the goal that if Kevin hadn't jumped he might have broken his leg.
"If Kevin had left his standing leg there with his body weight on it Garry Flitcroft could have easily broken his leg.
"So, though he definitely jumped or dived out of the way, it was a necessity.
"And a man of his experience shouldn't be making tackles like that -- let's be right.
"He shouldn't try and blame someone else for his own deficiencies.
"If that's what he said, then he's totally out of order."
Flitcroft and Nolan will again square up in midfield tonight as the race for automatic promotion hots up.
But, with the stakes so high, both managers are keen to emphasise the need for cool heads in an attempt to avoid any bad blood spilling over from the first clash.
"I don't see it being as good a game as the last one," said Allardyce.
"There's more at stake this time so there'll be tenser moments.
"We've got to make sure we control our aggression and don't get involved in that.
"It's such a huge occasion for both sets of players and both managers.
"There's nobody ignoring Birmingham it's just that the two North West clubs are involved here.
"But if we went down to the Midlands they'll still think it's on and it looks like the three B's are fighting it out.
"But we also have to look out for late-comers.
"We won 30 out of 36 points at the end of last season.
"You've got to look at West Brom, Forest, Watford and even Preston.
"They could easily put in an eight, nine or 10 game winning sequence and get close to second spot."
Allardyce believes Rovers hold the psychological advantage going into the game on the back of two magnificent away performances.
Bolton, on the other hand, were left kicking themselves when lowly Grimsby held them to a draw on Tuesday night in front of a bumper Reebok crowd.
"We let ourselves down by not winning on Tuesday," said Allardyce.
"Birmingham and Blackburn got two magnificent results.
"But had we won, they wouldn't have been two points closer, we would have been two points closer to Fulham.
"So Blackburn have come out of the week a lot better than we have.
"Drawing 1-1 against us with only 10 men was a great credit to them.
"Then going and winning 1-0 at Watford -- even though they must have been helped by the fact they had two men sent off -- has added spice and put added pressure on us.
"Tonight's match won't decide who finishes above who, but it's important to achieve a victory."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article