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Will Aimson reckons he was denied a valid penalty during Wanderers’ 1-0 defeat at Portsmouth.
The centre-back, starting his first league game for the Whites, went to ground in the first half after a tangle with Pompey midfielder Shaun Williams.
Referee’s assistant Justin Amey appeared to have a good view of the incident and Aimson’s appeal was turned down but the Wanderers man stuck to his guns after the final whistle.
“There was definitely contact,” he said. “I am an honest man and if I could have stayed on my feet I would have because I would have been in front of goal.
“There was contact but no VAR to help me out.”
Aimson was backed up by his manager, Ian Evatt, who felt he had a valid claim.
“100 per cent, but again these things go against you,” he said. “We are not getting the rub of the green, but I am not going to stand here and make excuses about officials or anything else. We just need to be better at what we do. Regroup, refocus and go again.”
Although he admitted Wanderers were not at their best at Fratton Park, Aimson felt an opportunity had been missed against a side which was also struggling for confidence.
“We just need to get that ruthless edge we had at the start of the season where we were killing teams off,” he said.
“I have said to a few of them in there, at worst we draw that game 0-0, you can’t get beat.
“When you come to these clubs we always say that first goal can be key. Big crowds like that can turn but they can also be unbelievable for you if you get the goal.
“The goal they got was a fluke, I think, I don’t know how it went in and I was shocked when I realised.
“They have got talented players going forward – I have played against them quite a lot – but I was comfortable. I enjoyed it.”
Aimson has had to wait for his chance since swapping Plymouth for Bolton in the summer and was further frustrated after being side-lined for several weeks with a groin injury.
After starting against Liverpool’s Under-21s in the Papa John’s Trophy he played 45 minutes of the 2-2 draw against Gillingham to earn his first league start.
“I have had to be patient,” he said. “We have got good quality in every position but especially that central defensive position and the boys like Rico and George have been brilliant. “I was delighted to get the nod today and left everything out there which is probably why I came off. It was my first proper game since last season, really, so it was amazing to play in front of that travelling support, they were excellent.”
Wanderers are now five games without a win and have dropped down to 14th spot in the table, some eight points behind the play-offs.
Aimson is confident, however, that the squad has enough about them to stabilise form and climb back into the top half of the table before too long.
“We have just been saying there are enough experienced heads in there who will have all been on runs like this at other clubs, maybe even this one,” he said. “Things don’t always go your way and that can be down to performances dipping or just a bit of luck at times. “It is time for our leaders to stand up, pull everyone together. You need 11 out there, not just two or three. But we need to stick together – which is easy to say sometimes when things are not going well – but look at what you can do better and what you were doing well before.”
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