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Wanderers under-18s coach David Lee labelled Wednesday night's FA Youth Cup humbling at Crewe as unacceptable, but says his young players will react in the right way.
The Whites were dumped out at the fourth-round stage when the Railwaymen steamed to a 5-0 win and Lee conceded it was a disappointing display.
But after a post-match pep talk from watching first-team boss Neil Lennon, Lee said the players know they dropped well below the standards required at Wanderers.
And he says he will not give up on them because of one big defeat.
Lee told The Bolton News: "It was a very disappointing night.
"In the first four or five minutes, we didn’t win the first tackles and didn’t compete.
"The further the game developed, the more confident Crewe got.
"Not enough of our players turned up for the big occasion and it answered a lot of players about them for me on the night.
"Being the FA Youth Cup, it hurts even more and I know the players are hurting.
"The manager came in the dressing room afterwards and spoke to them.
"We have laid it down in no uncertain terms what the expectation level is at this football club and that was unacceptable.
"We know a lot of the players are better than that but if they are going to go on to a higher level, they need to show that in big games like the Youth Cup.
"The manager was great – he came in and said if they are good enough, they have a chance to be involved with the first team.
"The incentive is still there what you can’t do is give up on under-18 players because you have a bad result.
"I’ve been in the game long enough to know whether you win 5-0 or lose 5-0, you come in the next day and continue to work hard in training.
"What it has done is shown me another side of the character of the players and if that is missing, that is something I have to work on.
"I know they will bounce back and react positively."
Wanderers went behind on five minutes at Gresty Road when Liam O'Neill scuffed home from close-range and he doubled his account when found unmarked to slot home on the stroke of half time.
The young Whites rarely threatened and were three behind when Toby Mullarkey stroked home from the penalty spot after Alex Honeyball, who was red carded, bundled over Callum Ainley who netted a fourth soon after before substitute Charlie Kirk wrapped it up.
Lee added: "The second goal was a killer but you have to do the right things in the first 45 minutes to give yourself a chance to play and we didn’t get close to them and let them pass and play.
"Those are fundamental things and I said to the players at half time you need those fundamentals to keep yourself in the game.
"We didn’t fight or scrap or even make it difficult for Crewe.
"In the second period we didn’t do that either and we could not get a foothold in the game.
"We didn’t get a chance to do what we are good at and that is passing and creating chances.
"It was a performance of individuals and some didn’t show anything."
"Great credit to Crewe but we are better than we showed and shouldn’t have allowed them the space they were afforded all night."
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The Whites were dumped out at the fourth-round stage when the Railwaymen steamed to a 5-0 win and Lee conceded it was a disappointing display.
But after a post-match pep talk from watching first-team boss Neil Lennon, Lee said the players know they dropped well below the standards required at Wanderers.
And he says he will not give up on them because of one big defeat.
Lee told The Bolton News: "It was a very disappointing night.
"In the first four or five minutes, we didn’t win the first tackles and didn’t compete.
"The further the game developed, the more confident Crewe got.
"Not enough of our players turned up for the big occasion and it answered a lot of players about them for me on the night.
"Being the FA Youth Cup, it hurts even more and I know the players are hurting.
"The manager came in the dressing room afterwards and spoke to them.
"We have laid it down in no uncertain terms what the expectation level is at this football club and that was unacceptable.
"We know a lot of the players are better than that but if they are going to go on to a higher level, they need to show that in big games like the Youth Cup.
"The manager was great – he came in and said if they are good enough, they have a chance to be involved with the first team.
"The incentive is still there what you can’t do is give up on under-18 players because you have a bad result.
"I’ve been in the game long enough to know whether you win 5-0 or lose 5-0, you come in the next day and continue to work hard in training.
"What it has done is shown me another side of the character of the players and if that is missing, that is something I have to work on.
"I know they will bounce back and react positively."
Wanderers went behind on five minutes at Gresty Road when Liam O'Neill scuffed home from close-range and he doubled his account when found unmarked to slot home on the stroke of half time.
The young Whites rarely threatened and were three behind when Toby Mullarkey stroked home from the penalty spot after Alex Honeyball, who was red carded, bundled over Callum Ainley who netted a fourth soon after before substitute Charlie Kirk wrapped it up.
Lee added: "The second goal was a killer but you have to do the right things in the first 45 minutes to give yourself a chance to play and we didn’t get close to them and let them pass and play.
"Those are fundamental things and I said to the players at half time you need those fundamentals to keep yourself in the game.
"We didn’t fight or scrap or even make it difficult for Crewe.
"In the second period we didn’t do that either and we could not get a foothold in the game.
"We didn’t get a chance to do what we are good at and that is passing and creating chances.
"It was a performance of individuals and some didn’t show anything."
"Great credit to Crewe but we are better than we showed and shouldn’t have allowed them the space they were afforded all night."
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