The final word on Wanderers' draw with the Dale as bwfc.co.uk rounds up manger, player and local press post-match reaction
Wanderers slipped to a narrow 1-0 defeat away at local-rivals Rochdale on Tuesday night.
Rounding up the manager, player and local press' post-match reaction alike, bwfc.co.uk offers the final word on the match...
How bwfc.co.uk saw it...
Wanderers succumbed to a narrow defeat at the hands of neighbours Rochdale after Steven Davies’ second-half strike proved to be enough to seal all three points for the hosts.
Through a combination of injury and illness, Phil Parkinson was forced into making four changes from the side that drew with Bradford City at Macron Stadium on Saturday.
The visitors shaded the first-half but were lacking a clinical edge throughout the contest which saw Dale hold on to their slender lead despite a late rally towards the end.
We’re not taking our chances when we get them. We had a lot of opportunities but you could feel that our confidence got knocked when we missed our early ones.
That’s not just because of tonight, that’s because of the last few weeks. We need to produce moments of quality to give ourselves a lift in games of football.
We were unable to do that tonight and they’ve produced the one clinical bit of play which has resulted in them winning the game.
We’ve still had enough moments but we know we need to be better.
We know that we’re going to take some criticism because we’re on an indifferent run at the moment. We’ve got to pick ourselves up and come out fighting at the weekend.
Bolton are one of the biggest clubs in League One, if not the biggest club in division and they carry an excellent squad, so I was really pleased with what our players did throughout the course of the game.
The game could have gone either way. They had chances but then we had really good chances to put the game to bed and I think the players deserved that little bit luck.
It was a really tight encounter but I thought we played well and I think we defended well.
When the opposition throw the kitchen sink at you like they did, it’s very, very difficult to get out but we didn’t look under any major threat too many times.
I thought we managed the game quite well and I’m pleased.
Rochdale had never beaten Wanderers in a league game. The two sides have existed for the most part at very different ends of the spectrum.
But here in League One, a goal from one of Phil Parkinson’s former charges, Steven Davies, consigned them to the most disappointing defeat since Bolton’s players trudged off the pitch last season, relegated from the Championship.