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Ian Evatt believes Wigan Athletic should have been reduced to 10 men in a tense local derby at the DW Stadium.
The Bolton boss felt Latics winger James McClean should have received a second yellow card for a foul on Dapo Afolayan just before half time, having given his team a seventh-minute lead.
Wanderers fought back to level things seven minutes before the end through Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and though Evatt was pleased with the way his side reacted to going behind, he felt they should have had a man advantage in the second half.
“I don’t see how it isn’t a yellow card,” he said of McClean’s challenge. “The whole stadium knew it, Dapo got there first and played the ball around James, and Dapo was going in towards goal. The linesman said the ball went out of play but it only did after three or four bounces and Dapo not running after it because he had been brought to the floor.
“It was a really disappointing decision because that really does put things in our favour but massive credit to our lads, we wrestled back the impetus after that first half an hour and we were outstanding.”
Evatt confronted referee Samuel Barrott as he walked off the pitch to ask why a second yellow card was not issued.
“His opinion was that it wasn’t his fault – that was the information he got from the linesman,” he added. “But the information was wrong. Everyone knew it was a yellow, and that’s that.”
Wanderers had started slowly and could have little complaint at being behind in the game early on.
McClean wasted a good chance to make it two and Callum Lang also had a chance to double the Latics’ lead.
But the game opened up after the interval with Bodvarsson, Amadou Bakayoko and Kyle Dempsey coming off the bench to make an impact.
“First 25 minutes to half an hour we weren’t good enough,” Evatt said. “They got the ball and dominated us not through good play but more from our own mistakes. I thought we looked nervous.
“It was territory, set plays, them nicking second balls in midfield, and it felt like we were under pressure when really we weren’t, and we didn’t manage that spell well enough.
“When they scored it jolted us and we took over the last 10-15 minutes of the first half and then the whole of the second half, really.
“It was always the plan to put the subs on early and bring some freshness. As much as you get a break in the international break, sometimes the players come back jaded. It sounds really strange but when you are used to playing back-to-back 90 minutes it takes you a while to get going again and I thought a point was the least we deserved.
“We had said at half time we didn’t manage the game well enough or compete well enough in a derby match but once we’d wrestled back the impetus we needed to carry on with it. We knew the plan, we knew we wanted to get the boys off the bench quickly and give us a boost. I’m delighted we got the goal it was the least we deserved.”
Bodvarsson’s header was a rare moment of quality in a fraught game, and his fourth goal of the season was thoroughly deserved, said Evatt.
“He was brilliant when he came on, he was a focal point, got us up the pitch and to build better.
“He missed a lot of football and had started back-to-back games for Iceland last week, basically chasing the ball for 70 minutes against Spain, so it would have been hard to start with him. But we’re delighted with his goal.”
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