Ian Evatt praised the attitude of his Bolton players, after Wanderers came from 2-0 down to beat Newcastle United U21 3-2 in the Papa John's Trophy.
Trailing to a first-half brace from Elliot Anderson, the Trotters reduced the deficit before the break through Jak Hickman.
Arthur Gnahoua equalised on 69 minutes before Jamie Mascoll completed the turnaround with five minutes to play and give Evatt back-to-back victories for the first time since his appointment as Head Coach in the summer.
Speaking after the game, Evatt admitted he was far from pleased to find his team trailing but believes the resilience shown to fight back and claim a result is something that can only be used as a positive going forward.
"We started the game quite well but then shot ourselves in the foot," Evatt told OfficialBWFC on YouTube.
"We gave away two really sloppy goals but the most pleasing thing was the character, desire and effort that was there for all to see.
"To come back and win a game from 2-0 down is excellent - it's the first time since 2012 that a Bolton side has come from 2-0 down to win a game.
"It's not so good that we were 2-0 down in the first place but I'm pleased with the result.
"It would have been easy for the lads who haven't necessarily played consistently in the league to feel sorry for themselves but they didn't and that was excellent. Their attitude, commitment and application was there for all to see and they deserved to get back in the game and win it.
"We want to win every game we play in, there's no doubt about that. We've lost too many games here this season and we want to make it a fortress, which is difficult without our magnificent fans but we can also make it difficult for the opposition by the way we play.
"We've got to stop giving teams a start but I'm really pleased with the attitude - to come back from 2-0 down is excellent.
"Winning football matches breeds confidence and we haven't won enough so far this season. That's something we want to change and it's nice to see we've got the squad fully fit and it's starting to look competitive for those shirts, just as it should be."
Pos | Team | Pld | Pts |
7 | Plymouth Argyle | 46 | 80 |
8 | Oxford United | 46 | 76 |
9 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 73 |
10 | Portsmouth | 46 | 73 |
11 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 70 |
View Full Standings >> |
Who is Bolton's 2021/22 Player of the Year? | |
---|---|
32.58% | Oladapo Afolayan |
30.96% | Gethin Jones |
21.72% | Ricardo Almeida Santos |
5.51% | Declan John |
4.05% | Kieran Lee |
3.08% | MJ Williams |
1.78% | Joel Dixon |
0.32% | George Johnston |