Owen Coyle it seems of late has become a firm believer in miracles, and is hoping that a miracle does happen when they take on Tottenham in their second leg. And it definitely would require a miracle and nothing less as Owen Coyle’s team is really in the doldrums after getting a hammering in the first leg and trailing 4-1.

Such is the magnitude of the situation that it has prompted the manager to comment that his player would have preferred to climb the Mount Everest rather than face the near impossible task of overturning the deficit in the return match. Unless they come with something out of the ordinary at the Carling Cup semi-final to be played at Turf Moor on Monday, there is no way they can stop Tottenham from marching into the finals.

The team at the moment is taking inspiration in Coyle embrace with history, as he was a part of the Bolton Wanderers who even after trailing 2-0 within the opening 15 minutes of the 1995 play-off final at Wembley came back with a vengeance to ultimately churn out an improbable looking 4-3 win.

Despite being part of such a stunning comeback, he said that his team’s has very remote chance of pulling it off. He emphasized that they are all but a Championship club playing against a Premier League team, and that that a three goal difference is just too much for comfort. He said that it is not even Everest, but much beyond that. He said that if it were the other way round, i.e. Tottenham facing a three goal deficit, it would have been a different case altogether and people would still expect them to turn it round. He said this to emphasize the gravity of the task that they have at their hands.