Elmander keeps on proving his worth

BOLTON boss Owen Coyle repeated his belief that he can persuade striker Johan Elmander to sign a new contract after the Swede took his season’s tally to eight with a brace in the 5-1 win over Newcastle.

Elmander’s second-half strikes added to a pair of penalties from Kevin Davies and a cool finish from Lee Chung-yong to move Coyle’s men at least temporarily up to the dizzy heights of fourth in the table.

It wrapped up a fantastic week for Elmander whose wife gave birth to a baby girl on Thursday and Coyle said: “I knew Johan would be champing at the bit to play today and his performance was outstanding.