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Gethin Jones praised Eoin Toal’s performance against Bristol Rovers after he stepped in for absent skipper Ricardo Santos.
After the Bolton captain had been rushed into hospital on Friday night with breathing difficulties, Northern Irishman Toal was handed his first league start at the centre of defence.
Jones said the young defender has acquitted himself well since making the move from Derry City in January.
“He has been unbelievable since he came in, had a few injury issues but he has been incredible,” he told The Bolton News. “He has worked really, really hard in training and has been learning every day about how we play.
“He is a big lad like Rico, so very dominant, and he’s fast as well, like you saw with that run he put in against Barrow. He can shift.
“He has been really good to play with.”
Wanderers did rescue a point after trailing for more than 90 minutes in Friday night’s game but also lost George Thomason and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson to injury.
Jones suspected it might be a physical clash as he came up against his former Fleetwood Town boss Joey Barton.
“A few of the lads have got bumps and bruises and we knew it was going to be that type of game,” he said. “I know Joey and how he wants to play. I know a few of their lads as well – it was always going to be a tough, battling night.
“George looks like he has done something to his knee. Jon was sat there at the end in the changing room with a big, fat nose on him, still bleeding. It was tough but we don’t give up.”
Wanderers gave themselves work to do after some sloppy defending in the opening two minutes allowed Josh Coburn to open the scoring.
And though they managed to complete the comeback in the end via Dion Charles’s 94th minute strike, Jones admits the trend of falling behind early in games is starting to wear on his patience.
“It is the same thing over and over again,” Jones complained. “We are disappointed with the way we started, conceding that early goal, but it has been like that for the last few games.
“This side has a never-say-die attitude, we go right to the end. And I think you can tell with the fans that they believe in us now. Even in that last five minutes they were right behind us and we had a few chances before Dion finally put one away. He needed that.
“We had a few after that too which didn’t go in, so I am quite disappointed but we always say if we don’t win, make sure we don’t lose.”
Charles had scored just once in his previous 10 games and missed a gilt-edged opportunity soon after replacing Bodvarsson from the bench in the second half.
Jones was glad he was able to make amends.
“Strikers have been taking a bit of stick recently,” he said. “I am glad that Dion got his goal because I know he has been disappointed in himself. He had a chance before he scored and missed it – and I said to him at the time ‘you’ll get another, put it right.’ “He did, and you could tell in the dressing room afterwards that he had a big smile on his face, which we haven’t seen for a while from Dion, so we’re made up for him.”
Wanderers have recently worked in training on trying to improve composure around the penalty box by trying to simulate what strikers may face on a matchday.
“I do think sometimes we need to be calmer around the penalty box,” Jones added.
“Lads are shooting when they should pass, passing when they should shoot, and we do loads of work in training on things like that – chaotic situations that are meant to help you relax in front of goal. But it is obviously something we need to work on every day to get over it and get better at it.”
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