Bolton Wanderers Boss Gave Reason Why He Will Dominate Next “Match Clash” But The Loss Yesterday Was Just At…

Steven Schumacher reveals why Bolton Wanderers lost to Bristol Rovers

Bolton Wanderers boss Steven Schumacher has picked out his players’ missed chances to score and lack of control as the reason his side lost 3-2 to Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night to lose ground on the teams above them in the race for the League One play-offs and automatic promotion.

The Trotters headed into their trip to the Memorial Stadium in the midst of a great run of five wins and one draw in their previous six league games, which had lifted them into the top six under recently-appointed head-coach Schumacher.

The former Stoke City boss would no doubt have hoped that his side would be able to dispatch a Rovers team who sat in the bottom-half of the third-tier with relative ease, but Inigo Calderon’s men battled hard on home turf and walked away with a vital three points thanks to a late winner from centre-back Connor Taylor.

Steven Schumacher made to rue Bolton’s misses in Bristol Rovers defeat

Bolton never even got a chance to get a foothold in the game before they were 1-0 down, as Alex Murphy was deemed to have tripped Kofi Shaw inside the area in the fifth minute, and veteran striker Chris Martin cooly dispatched his spot-kick past Luke Southwood.

Wanderers grew into proceedings though, and Aaron Morley netted his sixth of the campaign just before the interval to put the two sides level at the break. Schumacher would have wanted his players to build on that breakthrough, but Szabolcs Schon instead squandered a great chance to put them into the lead not long after the restart.

Martin soon grabbed his brace just after the hour mark to put the hosts back in front, yet only seven minutes had passed before John McAtee got onto the score-sheet to bring it level once again. It was him who rose highest from a Morley corner to nod home at the near-post.

Neither team looked happy with the point as the dying embers of the game came around, and it was Rovers who forced a winner with two minutes of normal time left, as a free-kick was not dealt with by the Bolton defence, and towering defender Taylor leapt to head past Southwood for all three points

Schumacher was understandably unhappy at the way his side lost the game in the final moments, and he did not hold back in criticising his players’ poor performances in his post-match interview with the Bolton News.

He said: “In the first half, we were totally dominant. I am not happy with conceding the penalty the way we did. We’ve got to concentrate better and know what’s around you. It was a poor goal to concede, but we responded brilliantly again.

“After coming back again and showing good character, I just thought the whole second half was a bit chaotic. There were too many transitions and, yes, the game could have gone either way but they’ve managed to come out on top of it.”

“We just didn’t have enough control in the second half. There was a spell, I think just after it was 2-2, where we made a few passes and we settled down. It was just some of the decision-making in the second half, some of our carelessness, probably in possession.

“We just gave the ball away in poor areas. They counter-attacked on us quite well and were dangerous. Luke Southwood had to make a couple of saves tonight, which he hasn’t had to do so far since we’ve been here.

“So, yes, we gave up too many opportunities in the second half. Not, I think, in the first half, but too many chances on our goal in the second.”

“The move that we created in the first half, Aaron’s chance was excellent. It was a great ball from Gethin Jones and, I don’t know, from five or six yards out, it’s got to go in.

“John McAtee was then through one v one in the second half and it’s got to hit the target minimum, make the goalkeeper, make a save.

“How Szabi has missed from a yard out, I’ll never know. So, those chances have got to go in because they’re big moments in games that are going to be tight.

“If we get ourselves in front against Bristol Rovers then I’m not sure whether they would have had anything to come back with.”

Home form will be crucial in Bolton’s promotion push

Wanderers have made the Toughsheet Community Stadium a fortress in recent months as they aim to return to the Championship after six years away this season, with no home losses since Schumacher’s arrival. Despite some struggles on the road under their new head-coach, their main aim has to be to keep winning at home if they want to stay in the top six.

Schumacher is no stranger to promotion from League One, after he won the third-tier title as Plymouth Argyle boss back in 2023, and was named as the league’s Manager of the Season for his brilliant guidance of the Greens. He will know more than most that a strong record on home turf is vital to being true promotion contenders, after his Argyle side lost just twice at Home Park across that campaign.

A small blip on the road against Bristol Rovers can be forgotten and moved past, but only if his side put it right against fellow promotion hopefuls Stockport County on Saturday.

The Hatters sit one place and two points above Bolton in fifth as it stands, but if Schumacher’s side win their upcoming clash, they could be five points ahead of seventh place with nine games to go, if other results go their way.

Wanderers’ aim is to go one better than last season and win promotion through the play-offs, and their five remaining games in BL6 will be more crucial than ever to any success they want to have this term.