Bolton Wanderers slipped to their second defeat in the space of a week with a slender 1-0 loss at the hands of Forest Green Rovers.
The Whites travelled to Gloucestershire again following Tuesday's night's defeat on the road to Cheltenham Town. They faced a Forest Green side sitting in the drop zone.
Connor Wickham scored what proved to be the winning goal in the first half. Despite chances for Dion Charles, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Kieran Saldier after the break, the Whites were unable to draw level and slipped to defeat.
READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers player ratings vs Forest Green - James Trafford & Declan John good in defeat
After the game, Wanderers boss Ian Evatt spoke to the press and here's what his immediate reaction was.
What did you make of it?
“Awful first half and then second half we created so much and we have to score. I think we need time to process and look at the game back, but we had a game plan first half. It’s amazing what one defeat can do because it looked like it rocked us first half.
"We looked like we were devoid of belief and confidence and then second half we had a huge reaction and basically just completely dominated the game and should never lose that game.
“Football has a nasty habit of when you think you're doing well, it was the best start in 22 years, it comes back to bite you in the backside and this week it had bit us on the backside. We need to get our heads down, work hard, and make sure we come out fighting.”
What’s been the overall biggest disappointment in the last two games?
“So much because we're perfectionists but I don’t believe perfection exists, it’s not a destination, it’s a journey and I think we’re still on that journey and I think every area and aspect of our play and game needs to improve if we want to challenge at the top end of this division.
"We can’t just be a really good home team, we can’t just go to the nice stadiums, the MK Dons of this world and perform. We have to find a way here and at Cheltenham, no disrespect to those clubs because they're fantastic football clubs, but we have to find a way to play with the intensity and the aggression that we did second half from minute one and we didn’t today.”
Is that a big issue?
“For me, the big thing that we’re not doing at the moment is between our ears. I think technically, tactically, physically, we’ve got a lot of quality but it has to be a mental thing and first half, I think they entered our box twice, Traff makes one save and they score from the second.
“We have seven men in the box, we don’t mark up and then second half we completely dictate, completely dominate when they were pinned in their final third, we have so many chances and opportunities and when you get results like we’ve had on Tuesday and today, it’s both boxes that make the difference.
"I think between both boxes, there was a lot of good stuff, in particular second half, but like the games against Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday and this week, we’ve lost the battle in both boxes and that’s something that we need to be better at.”
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