Bolton lost a home game for the first time since early October as they gave away a lead at home to lowly Swindon Town.
It wasn’t the best performance from Bolton all game, and with Sheffield United also being beaten, it saw a massive chance to close the gap at the top of the league go begging.
Zach Clough was denied by Town’s excellent goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux in the opening minutes, if that chance had been converted, maybe it could have been a different day. But Clough’s performances in recent weeks haven’t been up to his usual standard. It is his first real full season as a first choice player, so maybe a break and a run for Max Clayton on the left would not be the worst decision in the world.
But he wasn’t alone in missing chances in the game. Josh Vela put one over the bar (albeit it was deflected) while James Henry hit the post a couple of times.
It was David Wheater who showed the forward players how to finish – early in the second half he volleyed in from the edge of the area after a corner kick came back out to him.
But Wanderers couldn’t see the game out, very unlike them. Ben Gladwin, a loanee from QPR, scored a deflected effort after a good move. Bolton went for the three points, taking off Tom Thorpe for Max Clayton, but the plan backfired as Swindon capitalised on the counter and Yaser Kasim finished at the back post to score a gutting winner.
We’re now five points adrift of Scunthorpe, who are second, but with a game in hand. Hopefully, this isn’t a case of the players being distracted by the Cup. Although I wouldn’t say no to a win on Tuesday.
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