Congested Christmas schedule? So what, says Dougie Freedman after Bolton Wanderers undid all their good work to eventually lose 3-2 in the derby against Wigan Athletic on Sunday.
Bolton were left rueing missed chances as they managed to reel the hosts back having gone 2-0 down inside the first 24 minutes.
Over 4,500 Wanderers fans made the short trip to the DW Stadium and Freedman said he’d like to do it all again today even if Bolton have fixtures on December 21, 26 and 29 before matches on January 1 and 4.
“At the end of the day we lost, there are no excuses about that and in all honesty I wish we had a game tomorrow,” the Scot told the Bolton website.
“We lost a game today that we shouldn’t have lost and we have to start taking more of our opportunities.
“In the games we have lost recently there has been one goal in it and it is very narrow margins.”
A penalty by Ben Watson and an overhead kick by Nick Powell had given Uwe Rosler a dream start in his first home game in charge of Wigan.
However Freedman wasn’t happy with the decisions the officials made in the build-up for Wigan’s first two goals.
“I am not criticising the referee’s decision because it is such a hard job to do, but when he gives a corner and five or six Wigan players surround him, it changes the perception of the incident.
“We also feel the second goal is offside so we found ourselves two goals down but thankfully our spirit and positive play got us back into the game.”
A second half header from Neil Danns and a Andre Moritz penalty after 64 minutes pulled Bolton level and the momentum appeared to be with the Trotters.
However Callum McManaman struck four minutes after Moritz’s penalty to give Rosler a first win as Wigan manager.
“In the end the players did fantastically well to dig in and get the win we were looking for,” said the former Manchester City forward, who took over from Owen Coyle earlier this month having left League One high-flyers Oldham Athletic.
“Bolton pushed us to the limit. I don’t think there was much more my players had in their legs by the final whistle.
“I’m sure the fans understand that it will take time to change the style of play from the previous management, but hopefully they are happy with what they saw today.”
Image courtesy of BWFC via YouTube, with thanks.
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