'Made the difference' - Accrington Stanley boss makes…

'Made the difference' - Accrington Stanley boss makes Bolton Wanderers admission & reveals gripe with loss

Accrington Stanley boss John Coleman admitted Bolton Wanderers were the better team in his side's loss to the Whites though he suggested blocks by Ian Evatt's side at set plays went unpunished by the officials.

Shaun Whalley's effort put the hosts ahead early in the first half. Kyle Dempsey had a pair of efforts, one from a free kick, saved by Toby Savin, while Dion Charles saw a goalbound rebound blocked by Mitch Clark.

After the break, Wanderers went two behind when George Johnston headed past James Trafford inadvertantly to double Stanley's lead, before Ricardo Santos headed off the line from Whalley. Wanderers got back into the game thanks to Harvey Rodgers putting through his own net.

And Dapo Afolayan completed the comeback with a marvellous solo effort to put the Whites in the lead. It proved to be the winner as Wanderers secured their first League One win and indeed goals in the division since the start of October to move back into the division's play-off places with the 3-2 comeback victory.

Coleman believes his side can have few complaints with the loss and that Wanderers deserved the three points. He believes Bolton's change of system after going 2-0 down and the reinforcements they were able to summon from the bench in the form of Jack Iredale, Elias Kachunga and George Thomason proved crucial.

But he also aimed slight barbs at the officials for not punishing Bolton blocks from set plays, which he felt Wanderers were 'clever' with. But ultimately, he did not argue with Bolton taking the three points home.

He said: "I'm disappointed, obviously, but I don't think we can have many complaints. I thought Bolton were the better team.

"You're disappointed because you've lost the two goal lead but I think they were the better team overall, particularly the last half hour. They changed their shape, they made a couple of subs, they're blessed with a wealth of talent as I said pre-match and that made the difference.

"The change in formation allowed the wingers to be more dynamic. We've got a full-back on a booking and that proved to be the difference.

"They were clever with their blocks from set plays, they got away with it all day and it led to a goal. Fair play to them, it's not up to them to spot them, we spotted it after five minutes but the fourth offiicial didn't want to do anything about it.

"That's clever play, good build-up. Then they got a head of steam up and they were difficult to stop and Toby's (Savin) made two unbelievable saves before they've scored the second.

"You just wonder about the threshold for fouls because the amount of fouls we got given against us today and we think it's a clear foul in the build-up to the second goal and it's not given. But if you're just looking for fouls on the edge of the box for yourself and that's the reason you're saying you shouldn't have lost, I think your clutching at straws. They were better than us, hard and simple fact.

"We scored a great goal, not enough moments of forward play, when we did we looked really encouraging but we just didn't do enough with them and if you look at the game as a snapshot, the whole game hinges on the miss - two headers off the line 30 seconds after we've scored to go 3-0 up.

"If that goes in, I don't think they're coming back from that, but that's footy for you.

"It's gut-wrenching at the time (when 2-0 up) and you know that miss is going to come back to bite you. You felt it but they're a strong side and I think if we'd have won 2-0, it would have been harsh on them."

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