PHIL Parkinson’s quandary after going behind against Brentford was that the more his side attacked, the more vulnerable he felt they became.

The Wanderers boss had already laid out a forward-thinking line-up, playing Filipe Morais in behind a front two of Adam Armstrong and Gary Madine – which made for an open, end-to-end encounter.

Despite a bright start, Yoann Barbet’s 38th minute free-kick left the Whites chasing the game, and a shift to 4-4-2 in the second half exacerbated Parkinson’s problems.

“As a manager I looked to change it but going more attacking has left us open, you can’t get the ball back,” he told The Bolton News. “We went open and got punished.

“That first period of the game was probably as good as we have started for a while. It was the same at Ipswich, we had numerous chances to score, and we haven’t taken them.

“The second goal we changed to a 4-4-2 and there was a bit of an overload in the midfield and the lad had too much time. It was still a top class strike.

“The third we were chasing the game similar to Ipswich last week, we were chasing and left ourselves vulnerable. We got punished.

“Even with the game goalless it was too open, there were chances at both ends, and the more open we go, the more vulnerable we become. We need to strive for that balance.”

Parkinson was struggling to find any redeeming features in the defeat, which leaves Wanderers searching for their first league win after nine games for only the third time in the club’s history.

“Sometimes it can be perceived as the lads not trying or running around but the manner of the three brilliant goals just knocked the wind right out of us,” he said.

“When you have lost 3-0 at home to a team who hasn’t won all season I can’t take any positive from the game. We kept changing it to try and find a way back in but the more attacking players we put out on the pitch the more we lost the structure.

“Whatever the shape, whatever the formula, we need someone to give us that moment of quality to give us the lift.”

Bees boss Dean Smith was left purring at finishes from Barbet, Nico Yennaris and Ollie Watkins.

“We have got a 3-0 win thanks to some world class goals,” he said. “I am hoping we will start taking our better chances because we had a number of those today.

“This win has been a long time coming and other performances have been on a par in with what we have playing.”