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Ian Evatt reckons Wanderers should never have found themselves in the situation where they were choked out of the game at Accrington.
Tommy Leigh’s first half goal gave Stanley the advantage, after which John Coleman’s side kept Bolton at bay for the whole second half.
Evatt pointed to a succession of missed chances for Adam Senior, Kieran Lee, Eoin Doyle and Declan John in the first half as the main reason the afternoon ended in frustration.
“We have to score first half, that’s where the game was, that’s where it was at,” he said. “We conceded an awful goal, limited them to long shots, set pieces the whole game and then we have to score first half.
“Second half, they managed us really well, they slowed the game down, players going down injured, taking their time on set plays and goal kicks, and sitting really deep.
“At the moment, we just haven’t got that extra bit of quality that’s needed to break these teams down when they do that, but first half was where the game was at. We arguably should have been 3-1 up at half-time.”
Will Aimson had to withdraw from the squad after testing positive for Covid and with Ricardo Santos already ruled out through suspension, Evatt had to turn to the unfamiliar partnership of Alex Baptiste and George Johnston at centre-half, who had previously started just twice together in the league.
Evatt hopes Aimson’s illness will not spread – but believes his makeshift defence largely coped well with Accrington’s physical threat.
“It’s a worry because we haven’t got any more players,” he said of the possible Covid spread. “That’s just the way it’s going for us.
“We’re going to a game away from home with a team that is dominant from set plays, really physical and we’re missing our two most dominant centre backs.
“Having said that, I thought our two centre backs dealt with it really well today. I thought we dealt with a lot of things coming our way, most things to be honest, and chances first half we have to take and it’s a very different game if we go in front.
“But again we conceded the first goal, a really poor one from our point of view and then they’ve given everything. I can’t ask for any more than that.”
Returning to the UniBol for back-to-back home games against Wycombe and Morecambe over the Christmas period, Evatt hopes his players can put their poor away form to the back of their mind.
“Absolutely we need some points on the board,” he said. “It’s strange because many times last year and the start of this season, we were better away from home and not so good at home. I think that’s changed now, that’s the rollercoaster of a football season. We just have to keep our composure, keep our belief, we know things are going to change, we know players are coming back all the time that will improve us, we know we’ve got the opportunity to improve the squad come January and I don’t think we deserved to lose the game today, but we said that at Wycombe, we said that at Sunderland, we said that at Sheffield Wednesday, we say that again today and there’s a common denominator here. We have to get more points and more results when our performances are okay.”
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