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Phil Parkinson believes Wanderers were denied an obvious penalty as they crashed out of the FA Cup at Bristol City.
Mark Beevers’ early goal was quickly cancelled out by Callum O’Dowda and Niclas Eliasson but Bolton had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down just before half time when Nathan Baker clattered Jack Hobbs in mid-air.
Parkinson was delighted with his team’s performance at Ashton Gate and in particular the full debuts of Joe Pritchard and Luca Connell.
But he was less impressed by referee Stuart Atwell.
“I have seen one of the most blatant penalty decisions not given tonight in the history of football,” he raged after the game.
“I’ve just told Emma Norris (Bolton press officer) to get that on our website so that people who weren’t here will know.
“I saw it at half time and said to Stuart Atwell ‘how have you not seen that?’ “It’s right in the middle of the goal, so how did it not get picked up?”
Reflecting on the game as a whole, Parkinson felt there was plenty his players could take from defeat as they prepare for a vital league game at home to Reading on Tuesday night.
“I was very proud of the performance tonight, I really am,” he said. “We decided yesterday to change the shape and then we lost David Wheater in training with a minor knee injury and Marc Wilson had to come off in the warm-up, so there was that bit of disruption, but we gave two lads their debuts and they played terrifically.
“Some of the football we played was different class. Obviously we are disappointed not to progress but there were some huge bonuses to take from that.
“The two kids were brilliant, Nooney playing wing-back was absolutely outstanding, so there are so many positives for us to take. Those fans who came down will be very pleased with what they have seen, particularly the youngsters.
“Someone just said we’d been beaten 2-1 here last time – but this is a massive difference. Last time we got dictate to, and I’d said to the lads that we couldn’t let that happen this time.
“We were more aggressive without the ball and then when we had it we were so much better.
“I keep saying to the lads that we have to believe in ourselves in possession of the ball.
“They did in the West Brom game. They can pass it, they can switch the play, and we saw that tonight.”
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Mark Beevers’ early goal was quickly cancelled out by Callum O’Dowda and Niclas Eliasson but Bolton had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down just before half time when Nathan Baker clattered Jack Hobbs in mid-air.
Parkinson was delighted with his team’s performance at Ashton Gate and in particular the full debuts of Joe Pritchard and Luca Connell.
But he was less impressed by referee Stuart Atwell.
“I have seen one of the most blatant penalty decisions not given tonight in the history of football,” he raged after the game.
“I’ve just told Emma Norris (Bolton press officer) to get that on our website so that people who weren’t here will know.
“I saw it at half time and said to Stuart Atwell ‘how have you not seen that?’ “It’s right in the middle of the goal, so how did it not get picked up?”
Reflecting on the game as a whole, Parkinson felt there was plenty his players could take from defeat as they prepare for a vital league game at home to Reading on Tuesday night.
“I was very proud of the performance tonight, I really am,” he said. “We decided yesterday to change the shape and then we lost David Wheater in training with a minor knee injury and Marc Wilson had to come off in the warm-up, so there was that bit of disruption, but we gave two lads their debuts and they played terrifically.
“Some of the football we played was different class. Obviously we are disappointed not to progress but there were some huge bonuses to take from that.
“The two kids were brilliant, Nooney playing wing-back was absolutely outstanding, so there are so many positives for us to take. Those fans who came down will be very pleased with what they have seen, particularly the youngsters.
“Someone just said we’d been beaten 2-1 here last time – but this is a massive difference. Last time we got dictate to, and I’d said to the lads that we couldn’t let that happen this time.
“We were more aggressive without the ball and then when we had it we were so much better.
“I keep saying to the lads that we have to believe in ourselves in possession of the ball.
“They did in the West Brom game. They can pass it, they can switch the play, and we saw that tonight.”
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