Coyle praises Cahill as Chelsea lie in wait

Bolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle hailed Gary Cahill's "tremendous mental character and desire" after the Chelsea target scored the winner in the 2-1 come from behind win away to Everton.

But Coyle said he'd no idea if Wednesday's match was Cahill's last for Bolton, even though Wanderers have agreed a fee for the defender with Premier League rivals Chelsea.

"I was asked after the Wolves game as well whether it would be his last game for Bolton, and I can't answer that," said Coyle.

"All I can tell you is what I know. Gary's representative has had one meeting with Chelsea and, as with any negotiations, you have an opening gambit and then they obviously have to go back and speak to Mr (Roman) Abramovich (Chelsea's owner).

"I am led to believe that he has been away, so I think that is where we are.

"If Mr Abramovich sanctions whatever he wants to sanction, then they will take it from there."

Victory moved Bolton up to 18th, a point shy of safety, and Coyle was delighted by Cahill's professionalism.

"It can't be easy when it is a club of Chelsea's stature and a fee has been agreed," Coyle said.

"To be fair to them, I think they have respected the fact that we had a huge game and have not then had further dialogue - we expect that they will possibly in the next few days.

"But while that continues, Gary shows tremendous mental character and desire for Bolton Wanderers."

Everton took the lead in bizarre fashion when goalkeeper Tim Howard, assisted by the strong winds blowing round Goodison Park, beat Bolton counterpart with a clearance from his own penalty area in the 63rd minute.

But four minutes later David Ngog equalised and then Cahill, again named as Bolton captain, powered home the winner 12 minutes from time.

Coyle absolved Bogdan, in for the injured Jussi Jasskelainen, of blame for Everton's opener, saying: "It was certainly one of the most freakish goals I've ever seen in football.

"It would have been easy to feel sorry for ourselves, but I thought the players showed real belief and they scored two magnificent goals," he added.

"I don't think anyone can deny that we were worthy of the three points."

Everton manager David Moyes agreed with his fellow Scot.

"We didn't deserve to be in front and Bolton deserved to win the game," he said. "I've got no qualms with the result. You can't perform like that and expect to win."

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