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Ian Evatt gave his young charges a pat on the back despite defeat at Shrewsbury ending the club’s hopes of progress in the EFL Trophy.
Nine changes on the night included a full debut for Finlay Lockett and returns for academy boys Adam Senior and Ronan Darcy.
Regan Riley also came off the bench when Tom White – who had missed an earlier penalty – was injured by Wanderers old boy, Josh Vela.
Shrewsbury were two ahead but after Senior pulled a goal back, Evatt was pleased with the way his side responded.
“I think we were the better team, the best team,” he said. “There were some young players who really came out of their shells, three or four academy graduates in the team.
“We should have won the game. We missed the penalty, we missed three or four comfortable, simple chances and given them two goals.
“I’m not really bothered about the second one because young Regan (Riley) is learning the game, it’s his debut, it can happen. The first one was poor and we misplaced the pass under no pressure.
“Football is a cruel game sometimes and we’ll learn a lot from that, especially the younger ones. We dominated in that second half and definitely should have won the game against a strong Shrewsbury team.”
First-half goals from Shaun Barnett and Jason Cummings put Shrewsbury in command, either side of White’s penalty, which was tipped on to the post by Harry Burgoyne.
It continued Bolton’s poor record from the penalty spot in recent seasons – with Daryl Murphy the only player to successfully convert from 12 yards since Adam Le Fondre in April 2018.
Evatt was happy with the way his players responded but not with Vela’s late challenge on White, which leaves the on-loan midfielder facing a scan later this week on a knee injury.
“To be honest, I was a bit angry about that one because Vela made three really poor challenges that should have been given yellows before the fourth one, which was Tom White’s injury,” he said.
“If the ref books him earlier then he doesn’t make that tackle and Tom stays on the pitch fully fit.
“It looks like a knee injury, possible medial ligaments, so again it’s another one that could be missing a period of time.”
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Nine changes on the night included a full debut for Finlay Lockett and returns for academy boys Adam Senior and Ronan Darcy.
Regan Riley also came off the bench when Tom White – who had missed an earlier penalty – was injured by Wanderers old boy, Josh Vela.
Shrewsbury were two ahead but after Senior pulled a goal back, Evatt was pleased with the way his side responded.
“I think we were the better team, the best team,” he said. “There were some young players who really came out of their shells, three or four academy graduates in the team.
“We should have won the game. We missed the penalty, we missed three or four comfortable, simple chances and given them two goals.
“I’m not really bothered about the second one because young Regan (Riley) is learning the game, it’s his debut, it can happen. The first one was poor and we misplaced the pass under no pressure.
“Football is a cruel game sometimes and we’ll learn a lot from that, especially the younger ones. We dominated in that second half and definitely should have won the game against a strong Shrewsbury team.”
First-half goals from Shaun Barnett and Jason Cummings put Shrewsbury in command, either side of White’s penalty, which was tipped on to the post by Harry Burgoyne.
It continued Bolton’s poor record from the penalty spot in recent seasons – with Daryl Murphy the only player to successfully convert from 12 yards since Adam Le Fondre in April 2018.
Evatt was happy with the way his players responded but not with Vela’s late challenge on White, which leaves the on-loan midfielder facing a scan later this week on a knee injury.
“To be honest, I was a bit angry about that one because Vela made three really poor challenges that should have been given yellows before the fourth one, which was Tom White’s injury,” he said.
“If the ref books him earlier then he doesn’t make that tackle and Tom stays on the pitch fully fit.
“It looks like a knee injury, possible medial ligaments, so again it’s another one that could be missing a period of time.”
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