PHIL Parkinson was disappointed to leave Ashton Gate empty-handed after watching Wanderers take a second-half lead.

Will Buckley’s header gave Bolton the advantage against the run of play – but a triple substitution from the home side restored their momentum and two of the replacements, Matt Taylor and Kasey Palmer, struck to earn three points.

“It’s disappointing after going a goal down we didn’t show enough resilience to get something from the game,” said Phil Parkinson.

“Bristol are a good side and the three subs did change the course of the game. They changed the shape but both the goals we could have done better with.

“We can’t hide away from the fact we needed to roll our sleeves up and show that little bit more resilience to make sure we got something from the game because we scored a terrific goal. It was a great ball in from Sammy and Bucko has finished it really well.

“But at that point it’s like ‘come on, concentration levels’ and make sure we keep heading the ball out of the box and do the things we’d done the majority of the game. We know Bristol had chances and at times we had to ride our luck against a good side but we got better as the first half went on. Then in the second half the first five minutes we were poor, got better, got the goal – but it’s disappointing we didn’t get anything from the game.”

Wanderers showed little intent in the first half, barring a skimming shot from Sammy Ameobi and a Craig Noone header over the top.

In truth, the home side hardly looked on their game. But as they stacked up possession the chances started to materialise.

Famara Diedhiou’s flick over Pawel Olkowski gave him a clear sight of goal but the Senegalese striker was denied at the near post by Ben Alnwick.

Wanderers got a major let-off when Andreas Weimann’s mazy run ended with a shot deflected up over Alnwick, which luckily bounced off the top of the crossbar.

It seemed Parkinson’s side was getting the measure of their opponents as the half-time whistle approached but with Noone played down the middle, rather than on the left where he had terrorised Walsall the weekend before, the lack of attacking threat was worrying.

Things didn’t really improve after the break. Jason Lowe did well to keep a half-volley from distance on target – but at the other end, Wanderers started to ride their luck.

Diedhiou missed a sitter from six yards after Tomas Kalas had struck the woodwork again with a header. The same player came within inches of turning in crosses from Josh Brownhill and Callum O’Dowda.

Away fans filled their time with some chants against the club’s ownership, which had hardly got into full swing by the time Buckley’s header had them celebrating a quite unexpected goal.

Noone had won back possession from Lloyd Kelly and Sammy Ameobi’s cross-shot was diverted home by Buckley for this third of the season.

A triple substitution followed for Bristol City, which ultimately sparked their game back into life. Within moments of his arrival on the pitch, Matt Taylor squeezed a shot past Alnwick at his near post when Olkowski’s covering challenge had fallen nicely for him.

And just two minutes later, City’s recent signing Kasey Palmer won a header in a goalmouth scramble, the referee using goal-line technology to judge it had crossed the line.

Whereas Lee Johnson’s substitutions felt decisive, it took Wanderers another 10 minutes to change things from the bench as first Clayton Donaldson, then Josh Vela and Lloyd Dyer entered the fray.

Noone did move over to the left side to swing a couple of good crosses in, one of which was headed just over the bar by Josh Magennis.

In the end, Ipswich’s victory against Rotherham leaves Wanderers no further from safety but they do drop to second bottom in the table thanks to Reading’s 2-0 home win against Nottingham Forest.