Shrewsbury Town boss Steve Cotterill gives verdict on Bolton Wanderers defeat

SHREWSBURY boss Steve Cotterill felt his side didn’t deserve to lose following their 2-1 defeat against Wanderers.

Antoni Sarcevic and Dapo Afolayan produced moments of magic to give the Whites a commanding lead at the break.

However, the visitors pulled one back late on when Luke Leahy found the top corner with a well-struck free kick.

Cotterill says he was pleased with his side’s efforts and insists they didn’t deserve to leave the UniBol empty-handed.

“Apart from a mad five minutes I thought it was a good performance,” said the Shrewsbury boss. “We conceded goals we worked on in the week because that’s how they score their goals.

"We even spoke about where they score, down to Sarcevic’s being a top corner shot. Their first goal was against the run of play.

“We should have scored before they scored, and after they scored we should have equalised. At half-time, had we been more clinical, it could have been 4-2 to us.”

Joel Dixon made a vital stop to keep out Ryan Bowman’s penalty in the second half after Sarcevic had tripped Shaun Whalley in the box.

“Anyone can miss a penalty,” added Cotterill. “Us missing a penalty isn’t down to why we lost that game. No one will get singled out.

“Our goal was bit too late. Had it happened a bit earlier we could have got a head of steam and maybe got an equaliser towards the end.

“I felt the opportunities we carved out were better opportunities than from where Bolton got their goals from.”

The result sees Cotterill’s men slip to 23rd in the league table, having won just two of their 11 matches so far.

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