Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt frustrated as his side dominate but lose at Mansfield Town
Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt was left frustrated as his classy side dominated in vain in today's 2-1 defeat at Mansfield Town.
Stephen McLaughlin and Lee Gregory had put Stags two up before Aaron Collins pulled one back just before the break.
Stags then had to dig deep in a one-sided second half to make it a hard-earned winning start to 2025.
“It was just two lapses in concentration in a game we had completely dominated,” said Evatt..
“It was one of the most one-sided games you will ever see, so it's so frustrating.
“But we switched off from a throw-in and they scored, then we switched off from a transition and they scored.
“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb but we should have still climbed it.
“We had so much possession, so much territory and so much dominance, but we made too many wrong final decisions.
“In terms of the general performance, there wasn't a lot wrong with it.
“We just have to be better and more clinical in the final third – the one time we were, we scored.”
He continued: “In terms of an away performance it was as dominant as you will see – and this is a tough place to come and a side that is very difficult to play against. But we have to make our dominance count.
“Because we had conceded the two goals we became a bit panicky and that caused us to make erratic decisions in the final third.
“We got into that final third so easily and comfortably but just let ourselves down there after making it tough for ourselves by conceding two poor goals.
“After we scored I honestly thought we'd go on and win it. I thought we'd take over and control it but we became too rushed through scoreline pressure.”