Neil Lennon - Game management must be better

Manager says his side should have taken at least a point away from QPR

Neil Lennon says his side’s game management must be better, after Bolton conceded a decisive injury time goal in defeat at QPR.

In a topsy-turvy game, Bolton levelled the score to 3-3 late on through substitute Wellington Silva. 

But deep into stoppage time Jay Emmanuel-Thomas engineered space on the edge of the area before curling home the winner.

“It’s not good enough from our point of view,” the manager said in his post-match press conference. “We go two goals up and then defensively we allow them too many free headers and we stop stopping crosses from wide areas.

“In the second half we went a goal down, but responded pretty well. We played some good stuff and created a few decent chances. 

“We then score a very good third goal and still can’t see the game out. That’s the total frustration for me.

“It’s all about the last minutes of the game. We could have gone away with what would have been a good point. It’s happening to us far too often.

“We should have stopped the fourth goal. We’ve got enough bodies in that area to prevent the shot. 

“Mentally, we look fragile. Our game management has to be better. I’m fed up of talking about it after games.

“There are a lot of positives we can take, such as scoring three goals away from home, but at the end of the day we need results. I thought Gary Madine was superb, but the positives don’t mean a lot right now.

“This result is much harder to take than the defeat at Huddersfield, because we actually played quite well today.”

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