Kenny Jackett was left reflecting on a very “disappointing and frustrating” night as Wolves threw away a two-goal lead to draw with Bolton.
Debutant Joe Mason’s calm finish after just three minutes, and James Henry’s clinical effort on 77 put Wolves within sight of victory before Wellington Silva (81) and a deflected Stephen Dobbie free kick (88) earned the visitors a point.
Bolton had dominated large spells of possession in the game without overly extending Wolves at the back and it was a hugely disappointing late setback to see two points dropped.
“It was very disappointing and frustrating not to see the game out,” said Jackett.
“Going 2-0 up in the second half, we have got ourselves into a very good position at home and need to be able to see that through.
“Having said that there is not a lot you can do about the second goal which is a deflected free kick from a long way out.
“Carl (Ikeme) has read the free kick and it has come off Danny’s head in the wall and gone in the opposite corner.
“With the first goal on the far post it has got caught between our right centre half and our right back and a player that size shouldn’t be able to sneak in with a header and we are disappointed with that.
“We went ahead early on and that seemed to affect the flow of the game.
“Bolton had a lot of possession, which we don’t necessarily want, but they had very few chances.
“And we could have done better on the counter attack.
“It wasn’t a classic game but I felt overall we needed to pass the ball better between the two boxes.
“When we got 2-0 in front we need to do more and make sure we see it out.
“For us being able to press and press high is something that wasn’t quite there tonight.
“We have got a couple of good goals and there is a lot of energy in our side.
“But seeing out that situation is paramount in my thoughts at the moment.
“I can understand the reaction at the end because the fans are looking for us to sweep fans away and that is our aim as well.
“If we can we want to be able to do that at Molineux but we didn’t tonight.
“There has to be an honest assessment of where we are and our performance but without that cruel deflection we are standing here talking about a win.
“It was quite a flat night and that comes off the team on the pitch.
“You need to be able to press and win the ball high up the pitch and then keep it.
“We are very frustrated because it is two points lost rather than one point gained.”
Mason was making his first Wolves appearance whilst Tommy Rowe made his first Wolves start in 15 months and Bjorn Sigurdarson in over two years.
Jackett was pleased with their contributions as he looked for fresh blood following injuries amongst other members of the team.
“Joe followed it up well and it is always nice to score on your debut,” he added.
“I’m sure he will be able to build on that.
“I thought Bjorn up front was a very good option and ran hard.
“Tommy Rowe gave us balance after we have lost two players down the left hand side in Jordan Graham and Zyro.
“He put a lot of effort into the game and gave us a natural width with his left foot which was pleasing.”
