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Ian Evatt felt there was a noticeable difference in the standard of refereeing during Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Peterborough United following Bobby Madley’s withdrawal at half time.
Premier League ref Madley did not come out for the second half after picking up a calf strain, leaving his fourth official Scott Tallis to take the whistle.
Evatt felt there were errors made by the officials in Peterborough’s first two goals after the break, scored by Malik Mothersille and Joel Randall.
“I thought the standard of the officiating in the second half clearly deteriorated,” he said.
“Bobby Madley is a first-class referee, a Premier League referee, and you could see the difference.
“I felt decisions went against us, I have seen the offside back and I still believe that once the ball is passed he is in our half, so offside. We can’t get that wrong.
“In the lead up to the first goal there was a clear handball on the touchline, which again we have to get right.
“But we are where we are, the most important thing was that we avoided injuries. We didn’t win the game but I believe we would have done had the result elsewhere warranted it.
“There were some valuable lessons learned but now we get ready for the game on Friday against Barnsley, nothing further ahead than that.”
With no chance of a defeat for Derby, Wanderers were able to conserve some of their players’ energy before the end, bringing off captain Ricardo Santos and wing-back Randell Williams.
Victor Adeboyejo will be back in training this week and could return to the squad at Oakwell in the semi-final first leg.
The striker, who has 10 goals this season in all competitions, has not featured since damaging his hamstring in the 2-2 draw at Exeter City on March 9.
Details for how to buy tickets to Friday’s game at Barnsley will be announced this morning (Monday) with all eyes on the allocation given to Bolton at Oakwell.
Tickets went on sale to home fans priced £20 for adults, £15 for seniors (65+) and young adults (19-21), £10 for Under-19s and £5 for Under-14s.
Last season Bolton were given an allocation of 2.133 tickets for the away leg of the semi-final, although that number was increased for the league fixture in March, where 3,183 tickets were initially made available for purchase.
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