PHIL Parkinson has no regrets over his tactical approach in the defeat to Oldham Athletic.

Wanderers suffered a 1-0 defeat at Boundary Park, which means their lead in second place was slimmed to four points over the Easter weekend.

Missing the services of the injured Gary Madine, Parkinson named Adam Le Fondre as a sole striker and played Josh Vela in an advanced midfield role.

The decision to go with one striker was perceived as being negative in some quarters but Parkinson defended his methods after the final whistle, insisting he could use it again if Madine fails to recover from a shoulder injury.

“I felt that Josh playing in that role is so dangerous and I thought he was excellent,” he told The Bolton News. “You have to remember he’s our top scorer. It was about getting him into an attacking position.

“I think it worked well in terms of the creativity in the team and using Josh’s energy to run down the sides. Him and Filipe Morais got in some great positions down the right.

“We changed it round, we felt we had to do something a little bit different. Has it worked? No, because we haven’t won.

“But we played well enough in the first half to suggest we shouldn’t be shy of doing it again because it’s getting our two players with the best goal ratios as close to the penalty box as possible in Vela and Le Fondre.”

According to stats from the Press Association, Wanderers had 13 shots on goal, only one of which hit the target. And that is where the chief disappointment lay for Parkinson, who admits his side had not been ruthless enough.

“There were some good performances but we know football is about those moments the ball comes into the box and we show more calmness and it ends up in the back of the net,” he said.

“We had a run recently where we were scoring goals galore. That isn’t happening at the moment, so we need to look for reasons.

“We need to stay calm too. That’s important.

“The lads are down, they had a fantastic opportunity, but it is what it is. We are in second place and need to capitalise on our game Tuesday night.”