Coppell caught out by the mouse trap

13 April 2012

Steve Coppell claimed 'Mickey Mouse' international friendlies contributed to Reading's downfall as Sammy Lee tasted his first victory as Bolton manager

Goals from Gary Speed, Nicolas Anelka and Daniel Braaten clinched the points that lifted Bolton off the foot of the table and out of the bottom three.

Daniel Braaten scores Bolton's third goal against Reading

But Reading manager Coppell, without full-back Nicky Shorey as a result of an injury sustained playing for England against Germany in midweek, insisted his team paid for the policy of the game's governing bodies.

Coppell said: "We had a lot of players away this week for Mickey Mouse international friendlies and it took the sting out of our legs, but they are on a money-making agenda while we are just trying to prepare for our season.

"Andre Bikey flew all the way to Tokyo for 60 minutes on Wednesday and Shorey exacerbated an injury by staying on the pitch with England because he wanted to make the right impression when he should have come off.

"People say that boxers only have so many big fights in them. The same applies to footballers and this result just reflected what we had left in our legs."

Despite dominating the early stages, it was not until the 32nd minute that Bolton were rewarded for their efforts when Speed headed home El-Hadji

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