Marcos Alonso: Bolton are a solid defensive unit

After nearly two years of being, well, rubbish at defense, the Trotters have finally tightened up. Under Owen Coyle, it was very much a case of your opponent scoring three and Bolton trying to score four but only ending up with one. Bolton Wanderers were synonymous with shipping goals.

We've written countless pieces on the matter but since Dougie Freedman became Bolton's manager, the defense has noticeably improved. It took a while to get to the point that Bolton are at now (unbeaten in eight and having won five on the bounce) and that was mainly due to the fact that Dougie had to get Bolton's fitness up following Owen Coyle's departure.

In fact, in the last 14 games (following the 5-4 Peterborough loss), Bolton Wanderers have allowed more than one goal on just two occasions (loss away to Watford and win away at Barnsley). The Trotters have lost three of 14 games games in that stretch but apart from the aforementioned 2-1 loss away to Watford, both of those other losses were 1-0 shutouts for the opposition.

As a result, Bolton Wanderers and Marcos Alonso are champing at the bit for Saturday's scheduled match at Ipswich town. Speaking to the official website, Alonso discussed Bolton's recent prowess at the back:

"It is important that we keep the momentum going and get another three points at Ipswich Town on Saturday.

"We were very solid defensively and that is what you need to be against a team which keeps hold of the ball. It is then your job to choose the right time to attack and we did that.

"We are working well together and working hard on our tactical play, we look solid and that is why we are keeping clean sheets and winning games.

"It is always difficult when you play away from home in the Championship but we have learned a lot from the beginning of the season and we travel to Ipswich full of optimism.

"We had three weeks in a row playing both on a Saturday and Tuesday so it is nice to have a whole week to prepare for this weekend's game."

He also mentioned his newfound willingness to have shots on goal:

"I have been trying to score for the last few games with a couple of long range shots and luckily against Brighton I found the back of the net.