WANDERERS were beaten 2-1 at Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday night – a result which felt like a missed opportunity for Keith Hill’s men.
Fejiri Okenabirhie and Niall Ennis put the home side into a commanding lead but after Joe Dodoo snatched a goal back with half an hour to go, anything seemed possible.
Sadly, Wanderers failed to take advantage of the route that was being offered back into the game and an 11th away defeat of the season was put into the record books.
Here are some of the key points which arose from the game.
HILL WON’T PLAY BLAME GAME
Wary of piling too much on his players after successive defeats, Bolton boss Keith Hill was determined to paint a positive picture after the final whistle.
“I can see a lot of encouragement but it’s soul destroying at times,” he said. “For a group of players who are giving everything, and I mean absolutely everything – sweat, blood and tears, and there are tears because this is an emotional rollercoaster as a football player.
“You can become quite despondent, but I have asked the players to look at the bright side of it and there’s a lot of encouragement I can see.”
SHOES OFF
More than 500 Wanderers fans made the trip – and as ever, were in fine voice.
As expected, there was plenty of ribbing the home side about the postponed game earlier this season. “We play when we want,” went one cheeky chant.
And to mix things up, fans took to taking off their footwear and waving it above their head. A brave move considering the chilly conditions.
REMI’S ANSWER
Remi Matthews’ performances had come under the microscope in some quarters over the last couple of weeks but the Bolton keeper was in decent form at the Keepmoat Stadium, decked out in a new orange kit.
He made a few good saves and could do little about the goals that did hit the back of the net.
Our chief football writer Marc Iles rated him at 6.5 out of 10 – which put him level pegging with Brandon Fleming as the man of the match.
ERROR, ERROR ON THE WALL
Wanderers have conceded some poor goals in their last couple of games, and the two at Doncaster were eminently avoidable.
Okenabirhie’s first saw three Doncaster players involved in a move from halfway and virtually no challenges made.
The second, from Ennis, was equally sloppy. James Coppinger was given too much space to turn on the edge of the box and chip a cross in for the winger, who had ghosted past Josh Emmanuel to score.
THAT HURT
After losing Dennis Politic to illness and Toto Nsiala to injury before the game, Keith Hill now potentially has two more absentees to deal with for this weekend’s game against Wycombe Wanderers.
Kean Bryan and Jack Hobbs were taken off – and there are still question marks over how long midfielder Ronan Darcy will be on the sidelines with a foot problem.
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