Ian Evatt has reminded his Bolton Wanderers side that they cannot afford to switch off defensively in games for a moment after not quite putting the clash against Stevenage to bed but was pleased with how his side saw out the second half.
Wanderers had put in a great first half performance against the Boro at the Lamex Stadium and were in complete control of the encounter thanks to goals from Eoin Doyle and Ali Crawford.
But the Trotters conceded on the stroke of half-time when Tom Pett fired into the top corner to halve the deficit.
The second 45 minutes was characterised by Wanderers showing more of their defensive qualities and playing more on the counterattack.
And though pleased with the victory which secured Bolton's first back-to-back wins in League Two this season, Evatt believes a lapse in concentration for just one minute led to a more difficult second half for Wanderers than it needed to be.
But Evatt was pleased with the response he saw from his side after the break and how they saw out the second half.
He said: "That one minute of concentration before half-time makes them have to work really hard in the second half whereas if we’d have just saw the half out, they would have gone in feeling very sorry for themselves and then we could have made things a lot easier for ourselves in the second half than we did and that was because of that one minute’s worth of slack defending.
"We must keep concentrating until the whistle’s blown at half-time and full-time, whenever it is and make our lives a little bit more comfortable and easier than we did.
"It’s their own faults that they’ve had to work that hard because of that one minute of lax defending and that will just show them that we cannot switch off for one minute against any team and any opposition because it gives them a leg up.
"They didn’t deserve that goal, they way we were playing but the way they’ve dusted themselves down at half-time and then come out in the second half was great to see.
"That one minute before half-time kind of changes the direction the game was heading. We had them beat really and we let them off the hook and all of a sudden, 2-0, we all know it’s a susceptible scoreline and the next goal can also lift the opposition.
"They got it through bad defending from us, but I thought the way we started the second half, Doyle had a good chance early on and the way we stood up to everything they threw at us, which wasn’t easy as this isn’t an easy place to come, was excellent and there were some glimpses of real quality on the counterattack. We probably should have put the game to bed."
