Ten man Bolton Wanderers put in a resolute defensive display at Portman Road on Saturday afternoon to ensure that they took a share of the spoils away from their clash with Ipswich Town.
Marc Wilson received his marching orders in the first half for the Whites after being deemed to have brought down Kayden Jackson on the edge of the box, but Phil Parkinson’s men responded by frustrating their Suffolk counterparts and even came close to taking all three points.
And speaking following the final whistle, manager Parkinson covered these points…
On his overall assessment of the game…
It was a very good performance from us to get a point. When you add everything together such as the extra day’s rest that Ipswich have had, the long journey we’ve had down here and then going down to ten men, we dug in today really well and although we would have loved to have taken all three points away with us, given the circumstances, it’s a very good point for us.
On Marc Wilson’s dismissal…
I know at the time that the sending off was harsh – there is minimal contact on Jackson and he’s thrown himself to the ground, so we’re very disappointed that the referee has given Marc a red card for that.
But that aside, we had to respond and we put Wheats on. We’d given him a breather by not starting him as he’s played a lot of football so far this season and with us having two games in quick succession, it was a decision we made.
We saw it through though which I’m very pleased about but I am disappointed about the red card decision.
On picking up a clean sheet as well as a point…
It was important that after getting beat on Wednesday at Middlesbrough and losing at home last weekend that we got something today.
We really have shown some good resilience on our travels this season bar the game in midweek at the Riverside against an excellent Middlesbrough side.
We are pleased with this point and clean sheet, but now we’ve got to look towards creating the same intensity in our home performance, starting next Saturday.
On Ben Alnwick’s performance…
Ben wasn’t called upon to make too many saves, but the crosses that he has dealt with, his kicking and overall play was superb today – he was top class.
He has topped it all off though with one of the best saves you’re likely to see in the game and it says it all that the whole ground started clapping when he made it.
It’s a top class save but like I’ve said many times, he’s a top class keeper and I’m very pleased that we’ve got him.
On the players who came into the fray…
Hobbsy was flawless and it was a very good performance from him. He was frustrated on Wednesday to have had six stitches, but he was determined to play today.
It was a shame for Ozzy that he had to be sacrificed following the sending off as he looked bright during the spelt that he was on the pitch.
All of the lads though worked their socks off for the team and some of their stats are at the top end of the charts at a Premier League standard.
On almost snatching all three points…
It was a great block to deny David Wheater with the effort he had late on.
We’ve had a couple of chances though and although we knew that they would be at a premium, when you get them, you’d like to think you can convert one or two.
We acquitted ourselves well throughout the game though which just shows that if you work hard for each other, including everybody on the bench, then you’re always going to have a chance of winning and we’ve now got to take that into our home form.