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Ian Evatt was left cursing some soft defending once again as Wanderers were beaten late on by Crewe in the EFL Trophy.
Mikael Mandron’s penalty settled the game after Wanderers had twice dragged themselves level through Ryan Delaney and Shaun Miller.
But it was defensive lapses which dominated the post-match conversation for the second game on the spin.
“I’m frustrated, again, and in the second half there were enough positives to take – we had enough chances to win three or four games,” Evatt said.
“Second half the third goal was miles offside. It is frustrating when we have lost the game on the back of a bad decision but we have to stop conceding these bad goals, a set piece and a goal kick again. It is virtually identical to the one we did last Friday.
“We have spoken about it, worked at it, and we have just switched off. It’s concentration.
“There were some good performances out there, Shaun Miller was excellent second-half and he and Doyle linked up really well. On another day Doyler gets a hat-trick but I think he’s trying a bit too hard at the moment but he’ll come good when it matters.”
Evatt says his line-up for the opening day of the season is yet to be decided - although he was given food for thought by a bright second-half cameo from striker Shaun Miller, and a bright perofrmance from wing-back Jak Hickman.
“It should never be that way, nobody should be guaranteed to play. You have to earn the right to wear that shirt.
“Some of them, fitness wise, are not quite there yet. They are improving but they missed a couple of weeks and sometimes in pre-season you’re on catch up. To play the way we want to play you need to be able to sustain that high tempo and be fit for 90 minutes. At the moment some of them can’t.”
As a former centre-back, Evatt could not hide his disapointment at his side's defending for the first goal, however, which came from an unchallenged header six yards from goal.
"There had been a handball before the free-kick and the fourth official was shouting into his mic 'handball' but the referee ignored it," Evatt protested.
"Five seconds later it's a free kick and we have to defend that better.
"You are going to be on the back of bad decisions, 100 per cent, refs are not going to get every one right so just defend your box.
"We had spoken about it yesterday but then you are playing catch up.
"You get back into the game and concede from a goal kick. Yes, it was a great finish but it was one we'd spoken about, it's what Crewe like to do.
"We need to keep the wingback tucked in and inviting it in front, pressing and not inviting the ball behind.
"We swicthed off. It was a lack of concentration.
"The third one was a mile offside but I would rather not rely on linesmen, I'd rather us track runners and sprint for the five yards to make the recovery run.
"I won't get too downbeat because what I saw second half is good enough to win most football matches at our level.
"We should have scored more goals - but hopefully Doyler will score more than he misses."
Source
Mikael Mandron’s penalty settled the game after Wanderers had twice dragged themselves level through Ryan Delaney and Shaun Miller.
But it was defensive lapses which dominated the post-match conversation for the second game on the spin.
“I’m frustrated, again, and in the second half there were enough positives to take – we had enough chances to win three or four games,” Evatt said.
“Second half the third goal was miles offside. It is frustrating when we have lost the game on the back of a bad decision but we have to stop conceding these bad goals, a set piece and a goal kick again. It is virtually identical to the one we did last Friday.
“We have spoken about it, worked at it, and we have just switched off. It’s concentration.
“There were some good performances out there, Shaun Miller was excellent second-half and he and Doyle linked up really well. On another day Doyler gets a hat-trick but I think he’s trying a bit too hard at the moment but he’ll come good when it matters.”
Evatt says his line-up for the opening day of the season is yet to be decided - although he was given food for thought by a bright second-half cameo from striker Shaun Miller, and a bright perofrmance from wing-back Jak Hickman.
“It should never be that way, nobody should be guaranteed to play. You have to earn the right to wear that shirt.
“Some of them, fitness wise, are not quite there yet. They are improving but they missed a couple of weeks and sometimes in pre-season you’re on catch up. To play the way we want to play you need to be able to sustain that high tempo and be fit for 90 minutes. At the moment some of them can’t.”
As a former centre-back, Evatt could not hide his disapointment at his side's defending for the first goal, however, which came from an unchallenged header six yards from goal.
"There had been a handball before the free-kick and the fourth official was shouting into his mic 'handball' but the referee ignored it," Evatt protested.
"Five seconds later it's a free kick and we have to defend that better.
"You are going to be on the back of bad decisions, 100 per cent, refs are not going to get every one right so just defend your box.
"We had spoken about it yesterday but then you are playing catch up.
"You get back into the game and concede from a goal kick. Yes, it was a great finish but it was one we'd spoken about, it's what Crewe like to do.
"We need to keep the wingback tucked in and inviting it in front, pressing and not inviting the ball behind.
"We swicthed off. It was a lack of concentration.
"The third one was a mile offside but I would rather not rely on linesmen, I'd rather us track runners and sprint for the five yards to make the recovery run.
"I won't get too downbeat because what I saw second half is good enough to win most football matches at our level.
"We should have scored more goals - but hopefully Doyler will score more than he misses."
Source