Defender disappointed after last-minute debut derby defeat
Paddy McCarthy has called for a quick response from his new Bolton Wanderers team-mates against Millwall on Saturday, after seeing the Whites fall to an injury-time defeat against Blackburn Rovers.
Having signed on loan from Crystal Palace until the end of the season earlier in the week, the Irishman completed 90 minutes at Ewood Park on Wednesday as Neil Lennon handed him his Bolton debut.
One of the Trotters’ stand-out performers on the night, McCarthy could not hide his disappointment after Jordan Rhodes poked home Blackburn’s winner with virtually the last kick of the game.
“To concede like that is never nice,” said the defender. “It’s like a dagger to the heart. The boys are all devastated and I’m sure the fantastic support we brought here are as well.
“It is up to us to now dust ourselves off, take the positives from tonight and move on.
“It was a tricky pitch but a lot of them are at this stage of the season. It was a physical test and I thought we stood up to that.
“But at the end of the day we’ve lost a point right at the death and we’re all bitterly disappointed.”
McCarthy continued: “We have a massive game on Saturday now. We’ll regroup, have a chat about what went right and what went wrong and then look to go again.
“I’ve been really impressed by everything at the club so far, and on a personal level I am really looking forward to getting the chance to play at Macron Stadium.
“There a lot of fantastic players here and we’ll approach the game with confidence.
“Results haven’t been going our way recently but there was enough there for me to see, and for everyone else to see, we have enough there to go out and get results in this league.”