Bolton boss Ian Evatt saw ‘confidence flooding back’ in win over Accrington

Ian Evatt said he could see the “confidence flooding back” in his Bolton side as they came from 2-0 down to secure a 3-2 win at Accrington.

Wanderers had not won or scored in their previous three Sky Bet League One games but they moved back up to sixth after scoring three second-half goals.

Shaun Whalley opened the scoring for Stanley on eight minutes before an own goal from George Johnston doubled Accrington’s lead in the 48th minute.

Ethan Hamilton had a header cleared off the line a minute later – what Stanley boss John Coleman felt was the turning point in the game.

Then it was all Bolton, with a Harvey Rodgers own goal in the 56 minute lifting the team and the Wanderers fans before Kieran Lee tapped home the equaliser on 71 minutes.

A solo goal from Oladapo Afolayan after 75 minutes gave Wanderers a much-needed win.

“You go through so many emotions in a game,” said Evatt. “It takes so long to build confidence then the last couple of weeks you could see it draining away.

“We were devoid of chances in the first half, we were panicking and a great deal has been made about our strikers not scoring.

“We conceded a poor goal and then we tried to lift them at half-time but we started the second half abysmally.

“We had to change something and we made subs, changed the system and formation and you could see, after the first goal, the confidence flooding back.

“The crowd went from ‘Evatt out’ to singing my name in the space of 10 minutes!

“When we turn it on teams struggle to live with us but we have to have that belief and confidence.”

Coleman, who was shown a yellow card in added time for dissent, said: “At the time, going from 2-0 up to losing is gut-wrenching but if we had won 2-0 then it would have been harsh on them as they were the better team.

“The turning point was the header cleared off the line. I think if we had gone 3-0 up they would have struggled to come back from that.

“But they got the first and we feel it was a clear foul in the build-up to their second goal. However when they get a head of steam up, they are difficult to stop.

“That’s our third league defeat on the bounce but the last time we did that, we won three on the bounce so we have to hope for the same.

“It is a worry as we have conceded nine goals in our last three league games but I don’t think the goals today were as avoidable as some. They were the better team.

“It is a long, hard season and we have to scrap for as many points as we can to make sure we stay up.”