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Ian Evatt paid tribute to Wanderers’ fighting spirit as they came back from a goal down to snatch a point against Sheffield Wednesday.
MJ Williams’ 90th minute goal – the first of his career – earned the Whites a battling draw and left Darren Moore’s men cursing their luck.
Bolton have scored more goals inside the last 15 minutes than any other side in the EFL this season and did so again without the injured Ricardo Santos, Dapo Afolayan and Kyle Demspey.
Evatt, who confirmed that Afolayan’s appearance on the bench was for “emergency use only,” was delighted to see his side work their way back into another game late on.
“Considering the games we have had this week, the injuries and illness we have had, we have done remarkably well to get something out of the game,” he said.
“They were desperate to win. I think all the teams we have played this week have had something to play for – Portsmouth could still have nipped in with the games they have in hand, and we know where Wigan are at. Sheffield Wednesday are fighting for those play-offs.
“It was a really challenging week and we had to change our shape a bit, go back to a four at the back, and first half there were some positive signs. They started well but all of their attacks were from our looseness in possession, they were a bit unreliable at times and lacked a bit of quality but then, arguably, we had the biggest chance, a wonderfully worked set play where Jon (Dadi Bodvarsson) has to score. He knows he should score.
“Second half they threw everything at us. A set play but it was offside, which is annoying and frustrating.”
Jordan Storey had opened the scoring on 66 minutes after Sam Hutchinson had headed against the post from Barry Bannan’s corner.
The ensuing scramble made it difficult to assess if Storey was onside – but after watching a replay Evatt maintained that the officials got the decision wrong.
“They have to know the rules – and that is if the goalkeeper is out of goal, and there is only one covering defender, he is clearly offside. Their player who put it in on the line was behind the keeper, and so clearly offside, they have to know that,” he said.
“The big decisions in games, you can’t get them wrong.
“I just felt like we were on the rough end of a few today.
“The linesman thought there were two players behind the goalkeeper. There was, but it was one of ours and one of theirs.
“These lads never know when they are beaten and it is never a bad habit to get into, scoring late goals, and our record from when I took over has been fantastic. Credit to them, they rallied and got something out of the game.”
Wanderers have now draw against Wigan, Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday in their last three games, underlining their improvement as a newly promoted club.
But Evatt is eyeing improvement over the summer as he looks to build a side that can make a successful tilt for promotion.
“I have learned we are competitive,” he said of the last three games. “We know we are. But we don’t just want to be competitive, we want to get ahead of these teams and, honestly, we have still got work to do.
“Yes, we have come a long way. I do think we are competitive against these teams. But if we want to go again we need to learn, improve and we have got another window coming up where we can strengthen again. There are positive signs but we have a lot of work to do.”
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