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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
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John McDougall

'Bit of luck' - John Coleman's Bolton Wanderers claims & verdict on Accrington Stanley offside goal

John Coleman felt Bolton Wanderers got 'a little bit of luck' against his Accrington side as Stanley had a goal disallowed for offside in his outfit's loss at the University of Bolton Staidum.

Dapo Afolayan put the hosts in front before half-time with his 14th strike of the season as Wanderers went in leading at the break.

Jay Rich-Baghuelou leveled for the visitors early in the second half before Jon Dadi Bodvarsson came off the bench to fire Wanderers back in front.

READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers player ratings vs Accrington - Bodvarsson, Afolayan and Bakayoko good in win

Accrington had a goal for Tommy Leigh ruled out for offside before they were reduced to 10 men after Rosaire Longelo was shown a straight red card for fouling Aaron Morley, before Bodvarsson scored his second to wrap up the three points for Wanderers in a 3-1 victory.

Coleman said he had received multiple explanations for the goal his side had ruled out as he kept his cards close to his chest on other calls made by the officials which he did not want to speak about.

Though he felt his side nullified Wanderers at times and that the Whites had luck on their side against Stanley, Coleman spoke warmly about Ian Evatt's men with the quality they possess and felt on another day, Accrington would have taken home the three points.

He said: "We've had about three explanations. First we got told that the number 15 was offside and we haven't got a number 15 playing. It's pointless me going on about that because we're told it's offside and then we get told it's a foul.

"I don't know and I don't think anybody knows. There was four big decisions in the game and I don't want to speak about them, so let's leave it at that."

"Bolton are a good side and we nullified them. They were bearly a threat. They had one attempt on our goal in the first half and they scored with it and that's probably been the story of our season. Come to a big place, dominate and then concede. This club has got everything in place for it to go places. They play good football, they've got a few bob to spend which you need if you're going to get out of this league and then compete in the next league, but they've got everything in place to go right back to the top of the Championship and it's good to see clubs like this do that."

"These are a good side, possibly not in the position that they should be in the league for what they've got going forward. They showed a little bit of defensive frailty today which we capitalised on more and should have capitalised on more.

"There's a lot of lot of quality in this league but there's no standout team who is miles better than everybody else and you just need a little bit of luck. Today Bolton got a little bit of luck and we didn't.

"On another day, other teams have had luck and probably Bolton haven't, but you've just got to keep going.

"I thought we were excellent and I'm proud of the way we played. It was difficult circumstances to play the game but we did well. It's a great place to come.

"You look at some clubs that have tumbled out of the Premier League and they haven't got the right things in place. This is a wonderful stadium with an unbelievable pitch, as good a pitch as you'll see in any of the four divisions. They've got a good set of players who play good football, I thought it was a smashing game and a smashing advert for League One football and we showed how good we were.

"We took the game to them and dominated the game for big spells. We were unlucky but we've been unlucky all season, but I'm really proud of the way we approached the game and we stuck at it. The way we kept our discipline and on another day we'd have won the game."

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