Home
Phil Parkinson s reckons he’d have been “mad” to change a winning formula at Scunthorpe United.
Wanderers slipped to their first defeat in 10 games at Glanford Park and missed out on a chance to equal a club record sixth away victory.
Results elsewhere meant the seven-point gap to third place remained intact – but questions were again raised about the Whites’ ability to play without talismanic target man Gary Madine, who missed the game with a shoulder injury.
Conor Wilkinson was seen as a surprise selection as his replacement on Saturday, ahead of Max Clayton or Chris Long.
But Parkinson said the decision to use the taller, more physical Wilkinson was common sense, given recent results.
“Why would we think about changing something which has brought us five away wins on the bounce? We would be mad,” he told The Bolton News.
Wilkinson had started just once for Wanderers prior to Saturday in Parkinson’s 50-game reign at the Macron.
The former Millwall front man stepped in at the last minute at Sheffield United when Madine was pulled from the squad because of illness.
And Parkinson had no complaint about his performance against Scunthorpe.
“I think he did alright,” he said. “He hadn’t had much football but I felt 60/40 between him and Max and decided to go that way. He has looked excellent in training and done well in the Under-23s and he could have scored.
“There was a bit of disappointment in the second half when he probably could have slipped Darren Pratley in but went for the shot but he was desperate to get that goal to get everyone behind him.”
Parkinson admits Fleetwood’s defeat at Oldham – who are next up for Wanderers – made the defeat easier to stomach but insists the level of performance was satisfactory.
“There were some good performances and we made good chances,” he said. “First half Conor had two – a header on the near-post and the side foot which went wide. Second half you have to give Scunny credit because they defended really well.”
Source
Wanderers slipped to their first defeat in 10 games at Glanford Park and missed out on a chance to equal a club record sixth away victory.
Results elsewhere meant the seven-point gap to third place remained intact – but questions were again raised about the Whites’ ability to play without talismanic target man Gary Madine, who missed the game with a shoulder injury.
Conor Wilkinson was seen as a surprise selection as his replacement on Saturday, ahead of Max Clayton or Chris Long.
But Parkinson said the decision to use the taller, more physical Wilkinson was common sense, given recent results.
“Why would we think about changing something which has brought us five away wins on the bounce? We would be mad,” he told The Bolton News.
Wilkinson had started just once for Wanderers prior to Saturday in Parkinson’s 50-game reign at the Macron.
The former Millwall front man stepped in at the last minute at Sheffield United when Madine was pulled from the squad because of illness.
And Parkinson had no complaint about his performance against Scunthorpe.
“I think he did alright,” he said. “He hadn’t had much football but I felt 60/40 between him and Max and decided to go that way. He has looked excellent in training and done well in the Under-23s and he could have scored.
“There was a bit of disappointment in the second half when he probably could have slipped Darren Pratley in but went for the shot but he was desperate to get that goal to get everyone behind him.”
Parkinson admits Fleetwood’s defeat at Oldham – who are next up for Wanderers – made the defeat easier to stomach but insists the level of performance was satisfactory.
“There were some good performances and we made good chances,” he said. “First half Conor had two – a header on the near-post and the side foot which went wide. Second half you have to give Scunny credit because they defended really well.”
Source
