Gethin Jones says Bolton Wanderers skipper Ricardo Santos will take his mistake in the loss against Sheffield Wednesday on the chin and learn from it as focus now shifts to taking on Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup.
The Whites went close to taking the lead in a tight opening half an hour which they edged against the Owls. Liverpool loanee Conor Bradley put wide from a glorious one-on-one opportunity.
And not long after that, the Owls took the lead when the visitors capitalised following a big error which nearly resulted in an own goal for Bolton skipper Ricardo Santos. George Byers slotted home following that as Wanderers failed to react quickly enough.
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The Owls scored a quick second not long after as Liam Palmer put them two up heading into half-time. Jack Iredale forced David Stockdale into action in the second half in perhaps the closest Wanderers came to pulling one back as they slipped to a 2-0 loss.
It brought an end to an unbeaten run which lasted 13 games. Jones believes Wanderers were not quite themselves against the Owls, but believes his side must now look ahead to taking on the Villa this Tuesday.
He said: “Obviously we are all gutted but the manager explained it was one defeat in 14 for us, and we’re allowed to lose football games. The way we play there will be mistakes at the back sometimes. Conor had a great chance at the start and didn’t take it but we haven’t got on to him about it, he has been brilliant for us. It is the same for us at the back – the first goal was a mistake but we have to move on from it.
“Football is like that, it can hit you hard sometimes. If we had scored, then the game would have felt very different. We felt like we were dominating before the first goal went in, and then we had a wobble. We picked back up in the second half but not enough in the end to get a goal. We have lost four in 26 since January and it was something we are very proud of, playing at home we have been strong. We’ll move on to Tuesday.
“We all said when we saw the first four or five games of the season that it was a very tough start and it has been a tough few weeks as well. I think last Saturday at Port Vale took it out of the lads quite a bit and we have got a strong squad, so have been able to rotate a bit. We were disappointed to come off the pitch not playing the way we normally do at home. Give credit to Sheffield Wednesday, they played brilliantly against us, but we felt we were not at it."
Santos made an uncharacteristic error against the Owls which led to the visitors taking the lead. Manchester City loanee James Trafford had to scramble back to his goal to prevent the ball going in, but the Hillsborough side took advantage of the situation and an unsettled Wanderers side to go ahead.
But in the dressing room, Jones says no-one needs to mention the mistake to Santos, who he has vowed will take it on the chin and learn from it. He believes the odd mistake is part and parcel of how Wanderers like to play out from the back and that defenders don't get on the back of strikers at the other end if chances are not taken.
He said: “We don’t need to mention it. The way the gaffer wants to play, we feel is the best way to play football. Playing out from the back there will be mistakes sometimes. Strikers are going to miss chances sometimes, and we don’t get on their back. Defenders will sometimes make mistakes and the passing today wasn’t as good. They had a good shape about them and we didn’t utilise what we had worked on this week.
“We don’t get on each other’s back. The skipper made a little mistake today but we don’t need to tell him – he has been outstanding for two years. He will take it on the chin and learn from it."
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