Sheffield Wednesday: Academy boss denies complacency after surprise u23s defeat to Bolton Wanderers

Bolton arrived without a point this season and were without several of their more senior players, who look set to feature in the first team’s clash at Bristol Rovers tomorrow evening.

Indeed, the Trotters had made 11 changes to the team that had been soundly beaten by their Crewe counterparts last week.

Goals from Ben Hunt and Conor Grant saw Wednesday battle back from 2-0 down to draw level at the Stocksbridge ground, but late lapses of concentration saw Bolton run out 4-2 winners.

Asked whether Bolton had surprised him, Haslam said: “We watched Bolton in the lead up to this game and we know their players having played against them at under-18 level. It wasn’t a case of underestimating the opposition or anything like that. Credit to Bolton on the day, but there are plenty of places where we can improve on.

“We’re very disappointed to lose the game. It felt like we dominated the ball for large parts of it and let in a couple of sloppy goals.

“We had the ascendancy when we got the goals back, we hit the crossbar and had a couple of chances but some slack defending saw us concede two more goals.

“At that point you’ve got all the momentum and we were pushing for that third goal. But you’ve got to make sure you do the basics right, which is defend compact and not let your opponents get sight of goal.”