STEVEN Schumacher said he could offer few complaints with Wanderers’ performance at Blackpool – but that didn’t stop them walking away from Bloomfield Road with yet another defeat against a Lancashire rival.
Aaron Collins’ first-half header counted for nothing as the Whites’ 48-year barren streak on the Tangerines’ home turf continued – with Niall Ennis netting a second-half winner after Ashley Fletcher’s earlier finish.
Wanderers had chances to claim something, and narrow the gap on sixth-placed Huddersfield Town – who were beaten heavily at Charlton earlier in the day – but defeat, coupled with Reading’s win at home to Peterborough United, sees them drop to eighth spot.
The Bolton boss said: “I’m disappointed to lose the game, it was one that we think as got away from us, we keep finding ways to come on the wrong side of the results - but again there's a lot of good stuff going on in the performance.
“In a derby game, you ask your lads to compete, you ask them to make sure that they stand up to everything that the opposition throw at them, which we did.
“They were two poor goals from our point of view and we weren’t clinical enough in their box when we've had so many chances to win, and that has cost us.”
After falling behind yet again, Wanderers found themselves with work to do, but after Collins drew them level the prospects of a victory looked good.
“The first few minutes were as we expected,” Schumacher explained. “It was a bit of a battle, we landed on some second balls, we got into some dangerous areas.
“From a moment of good possession that we had, we gave the ball away in our half and they get a corner from it. They worked a good corner routine and got lucky with a ricochet that fell to their player, it could have fell anywhere but it went to their player, and we were behind in the game, but we didn't play poorly from the start.
“We got into it, got into some really good areas, got Josh Dacres-Cogley down that right-hand side and Szabi Schon kept getting in and putting good balls in the box, and we were guilty of not having enough numbers in there.
“The one time that we did get good numbers in the box, Aaron Morley puts a cross in and Collo (Aaron Collins) sticks it away, which was fully deserved.
“If anything, we could have probably had another goal before half time because I thought we were well on top in the game. I don't know what the stats said but it felt like we were well on top.
“And then similar in the second half, it took a few minutes to settle down, they get the goal and get themselves in front, and again we have all of the ball, all of the play.
“As I say, we're not being clinical enough in both boxes and it's costing us.”
Schumacher had no complaints about Ennis’s winner, with suggestion in some quarters that it could have been offside. He felt, however, that his side had allowed Blackpool to break after losing possession in midfield.
“No, it’s not offside,” he said. “Jonno (George Johnston) plays him on.
“But I just think leading up to that, again we give the ball away, Jordi (Osei-Tutu) gives the ball away and then we're not intense enough to go and try and get it back, therefore the gaps are too big when they play it into their centre forward and he wriggles away. Again, they get a bounce of the ball, they get lucky when Dacres-Cogley intercepts and the bounce is straight back to their player and it's a nice pass from them and a good finish from a player who's in form, like I’d spoken about in the week.
“So, it’s just a small margin, the bounce of the ball is going against us at the minute, but I keep saying to our lads, you're not playing badly and if they were playing poorly, I'd have a right go at them. I can't, even though I'm disappointed that we're losing games.”
Schumacher was unhappy, however, with the late decision to send off Aaron Morley for a shirt-pull on Tom Bloxham as Blackpool countered in the final seconds of the game.
Bolton keeper Nathan Baxter had ventured up-field for a corner and found himself stranded, but though referee Graham Scott initially reached for a yellow card, he changed his mind to red moments later.
“I was disappointed with a few decisions that Graham made today, it's just one of them,” Schumacher said.
“Away from home, sometimes you don't get 50-50 calls. I think a yellow card would have been okay.
“We had four players back, it didn't look like (Tom) Bloxham was going to score or going to shoot and he said he's denying a goal scoring opportunity, even though he'd give him a yellow card initially but his fourth official, on the one time he did intervene in a decision, he's changed his mind.”
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