Bolton Wanderers 3-2 Wycombe Wanderers – Manager reaction

The on-loan Derby County midfielder made one and scored one in stoppage time as Bolton turned around a 2-0 deficit at the Toughsheet.

Blackett-Taylor came on at the break for Rob Apter with his side very much second best and trailing to goals from Corey Woodrow and Luke Harris.

But after Ruben Rodrigues and Mason Burstow had got the Whites level, he then came up with a moment of magic to score the third in the 95th minute.

“I’m shattered,” Schumacher said. “It was a bit of a mad game. i thought we started the game really well, first five to 10 minutes looked nice and sharp, we had a couple of big chances, lots of stuff we were at it, and then credit to Wycombe, they took over really.

“They started doing the basics better than we did, they landed on second balls, got us under pressure, created some good chances.

“Like we had said in the week they have got some very good players, had us 2-0 down at half-time, and probably deservedly so. 

“We spoke about it at half-time and said: ‘Come on, let’s get back to us.’ We feel as though it’s not rocket science what was happening, they were just a little bit on the front foot more than we were.

“We made a substitution to try and give us a little bit more energy and a bit more quality, and thankfully it worked, big time.”

Blackett-Taylor had to settle for a place on the bench having missed last weekend’s comprehensive win at Exeter City.

His introduction did start to turn the game in Bolton’s favour in the second half but they still required a stroke of luck when Woodrow missed a sitter 20 minutes before the end before the comeback began.

“Corey was excellent,” Schumacher said. “Obviously he missed last week with an illness, and when you go and win 5-1, I thought the lads who played deserved to start again, because they played really well.

“I just felt at half-time, let’s try and get the wide players, let’s get two wide players, keep Thierry Gale wider, keep Corey on the sides, and ask Jordi Osei-Tutu to come into the middle of the pitch and just adjust slightly and see if we can get any more joy. 

“We huffed and puffed, didn’t we? We started the second half really well.

“They had a big chance to go 3-0 up, Woodrow should have scored from a chance, but they didn’t take it and they got punished because the other lads who came off the bench had huge impacts in the game as well.”

Wanderers have now scored 12 goals in the 90th minute and beyond this season and with Rodrigues, Burstow and Blackett-Taylor all on the scoresheet had three substitutes find the back of the net in the same game for the first time in their history.

“We have shown that loads of times now, we’ve lost count of how many it is, but the spirit, the character that they’ve got, the belief, and the quality, because all three goals are actually really good quality goals,” Schumacher said. “The crossing from Eoin Toal is a decent ball in, Sam Dalby’s control into Reuben’s path, and it’s a really composed finish, which is what he’s all about.

“And then Corey’s ball to the back post is outstanding, and Mason having that threat coming in on the back stick to head it in, like he obviously is a centre-forward, was excellent. And then the match-winning goal is, I think, a goal deserving to win any game of football. But, as I say, I think Wycombe will be disappointed, because they have played well today, but we’ve shown that we’re difficult to beat, and we don’t give in.”

There was a moment of controversy in the second half when Wanderers protested that Toal’s close-range effort had crossed the line before being hacked away by Daniel Harvie.

Goal-line technology is not in operation in League One, and Bolton’s camera technology was removed when they dropped to this level in 2019.

Schumacher added: “The lads thought it was over the line, the players, but I didn’t have a good view, obviously, and looked on the camera angle, it’s difficult to see.

“Luckily we didn’t let our heads drop, kept going, kept believing, and as I say, once we got one, I did feel we’d get two, I didn’t expect us to get three, but thank God we did. 

“We have scored loads of late goals and in a team where you’re going to have a successful season, late goals are important.

“We would love to score more early goals, and kill games off, like we did last week, but sometimes you don’t get it all your own way, and today we certainly didn’t get it all our own way, it was a tough game.”