Burnden Aces

Post-Match: Parkinson on Bolton's Defeat at Cheltenham

• November 09, 2016 | By Chris Mann
• Short URL: http://b-ac.es/b4cf5

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• Checkatrade Trophy, Cheltenham Town, Phil Parkinson
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• See Also

• Cheltenham Town 1-0 Bolton Wanderers

Phil Parkinson refused to pin the blame on his players, believing they gave their all in defeat to Cheltenham Town on Tuesday.

A 90th-minute penalty from Amari Morgan-Smith handed the Robins victory at the LCI Rail Stadium, eliminating Wanderers from the Checkatrade Trophy as the bottom club in their group.

Despite the disappointment of exiting the competition, Parkinson, speaking after the tie, admitted he was happy with the performance of his players, claiming they were simply undone by a last minute lapse in concentration.

"I thought the attitude of the lads was excellent," Parkinson told bwfc.co.uk. "We made a lot of changes and the players who came in worked really hard.

"It's a game we dominated really and we've just been undone inside the last few minutes with their penalty.

"We may have been beaten, but I thought the attitude was good and that was important for us alongside getting some players minutes under their belts which have been needed.

"We go into the weekend now though with a lot of players coming back into the fray and it's about picking the right team for Sunday.

"It was massively important for lads such as Dean Moxey and Lewis Buxton, who have been injured for a while, to play tonight alongside the likes of Keshi Anderson, James Henry and a number of others.

"I think that we got the work and the effort that we needed in terms of getting those players ready for action as we come in towards a tricky run of games for us.

"There's a way to lose and I can't really fault any of the lads tonight - everybody played with a purpose but it just wasn't to be on the night."

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