Bolton Wanderers succumbed eventually to Premier League side Aston Villa as they exited the Carabao Cup at the second round stage.
The Whites took a deserved lead in the first half when Dion Charles slotted home from inside the box. Douglas Luiz equalised before the break straight from a corner.
The Villans went ahead from the penalty spot when, despite suggestions of offside, Danny Ings won a penalty at the expense of Joel Dixon. He picked himself up to slot home from the spot.
READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers player ratings vs Aston Villa - Kieran Lee great in Carabao Cup loss
The Villans added a third through Lucas Digne, before Leon Bailey capped off the win with a fourth towards the end. It meant the League One side exited the competition despite a spirited and encouraging performance.
After thje game, Wanderers boss Ian Evatt spoke to the press and here is his initial reaction.
What’s your assessment Ian?
“I thought for 60 minutes we were right in the game and had them wobbled really. I think we started great, intense, high press. I think it’s easy for lower league teams coming against Premier League opposition to sacrifice, back off, try and block up and hang on but that’s not we do or the way we play.
“We wanted to go toe-to-toe and I thought for 60 minutes we did. I think the set play not got them out of jail a little bit, but gave them some confidence, you could see they’re a team lacking in confidence and I think that set piece has given them some belief back. Second half, we’re bang in the game.
"They started brightly but we’re going to have to ride some rough spells against Premier League opposition and I think the second goal looks offside to me and when they’re 2-1 up the belief comes flooding back and they showed their quality the last 20 minutes.
“It’s a bit naive from us because we’re still pushing and wanting to try and get something out of the game and it could have ended up extremely harsh, but I think the scoreline does make it extremely harsh really. I think it kind of flatters them a little bit. For 60 minutes, we were right in the game.”
Six changes…
“Yeah, six changes and they made not many so it just shows you the quality in the squad we’ve got that players can come in and still compete. We wanted to have some freshness and have some belief and confidence for all of the players.
“I said I trust them all to go out and execute what we do and our gameplan and I thought for 60 minutes we did that.”
Has that damage Bolton’s confidence with two home defeats in four days?
“No. I don’t think anyone really gave us a chance of winning tonight, especially when the team sheets came out, but for 60 minutes we competed, we did well. We showed lots of good things, we showed lots of things that make us a really good team in our level, in our division and I think now we have to focus on the league.”
Could you have defended any of the goals better?
“Of course but we’re playing against some of the Premier League’s best players - Coutinho has been at Barcelona and we’re talking about League One here, so we have to give them a break. We’ve done the best we can, we’ve gone toe to toe, there was no backing off, there was no sacrificing. We went to press and when they break the press because they’re good, good players are going to punish you because the space is there and that’s what happened tonight.”
You’ve got to prepare for Plymouth now on Saturday?
“We’ve got to prepare for Plymouth and that’s it. We’ve enjoyed tonight, it was a great learning curve for all, credit to them, a good team, good players and hopefully they’ll kick on now and good luck in the next round. But for now full focus is on the league.”
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