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Ian Evatt claims Rotherham United’s coaching staff tried to ‘hide’ the ball under a seat in the dugout to kill time in Saturday’s game at the UniBol.
The Wanderers boss was yellow carded by referee James Bell after an exchange with Millers’ assistant manager Richie Barker.
Asked what happened to create the flashpoint, Evatt explained: “This is where it’s frustrating because, and rightly so, I’m not saying we would do it, but I understand it, that they’re trying to slow the game down and when you grab the ball and put it under a seat, I then feel the need to go and get it.
“But by me going to get it, I get yellow carded for entering their technical area. I don’t know how else we’re going to get the ball back or restart the game. Apparently, I should have just waited for them to chuck the ball back, but human nature says you can’t do that.
“It’s frustrating.”
Evatt has been booked by officials on a few occasions this season but admits he does not know whether any suspension could be looming.
“I don’t know what I’m on, but maybe I should sit on my bottom and not enter to try and get the ball back so my team can score a goal?” he added.
Ben Wiles scored against the run of play in the first half and then struck again less than three minutes later to leave Bolton floundering.
Evatt feels his players could have still won the game from there – but admits they missed their best opportunity after failing to take advantage of several chances created in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
“When it goes to one, you have to give yourselves the platform to grow back into the game and get the equaliser and we didn’t today,” he said.
“They were two very good goals, two very good finishes but two set plays and we just didn’t deal with them well enough.”
Rotherham United boss Paul Warne said his set piece coach Matt Hamshaw had spotted a potential weakness in Bolton’s defending in the build-up to the game, which came to fruition in Wiles’s header for the second goal.
Evatt did not blame a lack of concentration from his defenders but rather the fact that the visitors loaded the box with more players than expected.
“I think they just put seven in the box, which is rarity,” he said. “We always go off the back of five or six. We had those and they were brave enough to put seven in and that’s credit to them. They’ve looked at us and we normally bring everyone back from corners and they afforded to go with seven in and the seventh man scored. It was a very good header.”
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