Bolton Sport

Ricketts relishes cup reunion

By Marc Iles

6:50pm Friday 27th January 2012

WHATEVER changes Owen Coyle makes to his starting line-up for tomorrow’s FA Cup duel with Premier League rivals Swansea, the Bolton boss would be advised not to shunt Sam Ricketts out to the subs’ bench.

Talk about being “up for the cup” the Wanderers full-back is positively hyper.

Back in his stride after almost a year on the sidelines with an Achilles tendon injury, the Wales international is determined to make up for lost time and lost games - one of which was last season’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

That was a nightmare experience everyone at the Reebok would dearly love to atone for, so woe betide anyone who tries to get in their way.

But it’s the opposition that makes this even more of a special occasion for Ricketts – Swansea being the club where he broke into league football and where he made more than 100 appearances in two exciting seasons – winning a promotion and the Football League Trophy – before his £300,000 transfer to Hull City in 2006.

“It’s a great draw for me,” he said, making no attempt to disguise his excitement or play down the personal significance of the tie.

Perversely, he might have been even happier if Wanderers had been drawn as the away team.

“That was another game I missed,” he said, “returning to Swansea. I’ve returned at international level but not yet at club level, unfortunately, and, of course, this game’s up here so I’ll still not be able to go back there.”

There will still be reunions a plenty as Ricketts plays catch-up with a band of former team-mates “Leon Britton, Gary Monk, Alan Tate, who is injured,” he said, running through the list of old pals he will be searching out when the Swans arrive at the Reebok tomorrow afternoon.

“I know Joe Allen – he was only a kid at the time I was there, but I know Joe really well. Obviously there’s a few Welsh lads there too, so there are plenty there I still know.”

For all his personal relish, however, Ricketts is not blind to the bigger picture and believes progress in the competition can go hand in hand with a Premier League survival mission - the seeds of which have already been sown with the collection of 10 points from the last five games, four of which he has featured in since returning from injury.

There is the school of thought that a cup run can prove a distraction or a hindrance when the priority has to be survival. But the 30-year-old defender does not subscribe to that theory.

“It can help you keep a winning mentality,” he said, putting the counter-argument. “You can get into a rut of losing and you can get into a run of winning as well and I know which I would rather be in. This is another big chance for us to go on a cup run. Both sides will be looking at it as a chance to get into the fifth round and then, with the luck of the draw, you’re nearly there.

“And you can’t say there’s fixture congestion, because up to the fifth round it’s a free weekend. You’re not getting games crammed into midweek or moved. If you’re doing well, it keeps the momentum going . . . and you always like to get one over on your old club.”

He could not have dropped a blunter “pick me” hint to his boss.

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