Bolton Wanderers booked their place in the last 32 of the Papa Johns Trophy with a 3-0 victory over Leeds United's under-21s.
Ian Evatt made eight changes from the side which drew against Barnsley over the weekend. It was one of the three players he kept faith in, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, who put the Whites ahead in the first half as he turned home a cross from the returning Lloyd Isgrove.
Wanderers doubled their lead after the break when Amadou Bakayoko fired home from close range following Conor Bradley's shot being saved by Joel Robles. Kieran Sadlier added a third before full-time to put the victory beyond doubt.
READ MORE: Bolton player ratings vs Leeds United U21s - Dempsey, Bodvarsson & Isgrove good
Bodvarsson was taken off midway through the second half, while Sheehan did not emerge after half-time. Evatt spoke on the duo as he reacted to the victory immediately after.
It was a comprehensive win, progression in the competition, you must be pleased with that?
“Cup competitions are always about progression and progressing to the next round. We are delighted to do that. Credit to them, everything I saw pre-match from them was very, very good. I think they are having a good season so far. They scored five at Tranmere, so we paid them a lot of respect.
"First half, they were very fast in transition. A typical Leeds team really, you could see the identity and what they were trying to do. I thought eventually, once we got to grips with that, we wore them down and they got tired in the second half. But credit to them, they gave us a good game.”
Jon had a great first goal and went off, how is he?
“He is okay. I think he has just rolled his ankle, but no issues there. And Josh Sheehan had a bit of a back spasm. Again just no risk really, just get them off and get them ready and prepared for Saturday.
"A good victory. We did lots of things right. Obviously, we still could have been more clinical and scored more goals, and they had one or two moments in transition. But I thought it was a really good game and am delighted to progress.”
How pleased were you to see Lloyd Isgrove back on the pitch again?
“We have missed him. We have missed his energy, on the training pitch as well as on matchdays. A moment of quality for the first goal. A good pick out and a good finish from Jon. I thought that settled us down after three games of not scoring, which isn’t like us at all.
"I think we have had 24 shots and 10 on target. We have worked the keeper tonight. We have created like we always create and we have managed to be clinical.
"We can still do better in those positions and those moments, but (we are) pleased with the victory. I think they are a good team and really well coached.”
Declan John wasn’t too happy coming off, was there anything on that?
“I didn’t see that. I don’t expect anyone to be happy coming off the pitch. It is not about Declan, it is about the team and Owen Beck needs and wants some minutes. I thought Owen was excellent when he came on.”
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