There were positives for the Bolton boss to take from a resolute defensive display at the Lamex Stadium, and some spells in the game where some effective football was played on a difficult, wet, windswept night.
Stevenage arguably went closest to breaking the deadlock when Sam Dalby was needed to hook Jamie Reid’s close range effort off the line but Wanderers did have a few chances of their own with Mason Burstow, Amario Cozier-Duberry and John McAtee all getting sights of goal.
A second successive clean sheet for new keeper Jack Bonham was reward for the hard work put in to protect a result, and Schumacher could have little complaint having named an unchanged side for only the third time this season.
“It was a hard-earned point, definitely,” he said. “I told you yesterday it was going to be a game where sometimes here, on this pitch, not a lot happens. All the games I’ve watched from home, there have been very few clear-cut chances.
“You’ve got to try and still play your football, which I felt for 20 minutes, 25 minutes, we were really good. If we scored in that opening spell when we were on top, then we’d probably go on and win the game. The longer that it went on, the more difficult it became.
“You did see a bit of tiredness kicking in from both teams. It was a bit of a scrap when the weather kicked in as well. It didn’t help things, but in the end, it’s another point.
“Some of the football, some of the ideas were nice tonight, the way the lads played. But again, just the last little bit, a little bit of lack of quality in that final third, and a lack of energy in the last 15-20 minutes. It is to be expected, Saturday was a huge game, and it took a lot out of everybody.
“Coming here tonight, I obviously named an unchanged team, go again. I thought the lads gave everything, but we just didn’t find a way to unlock the door.”
Wanderers subs McAtee and Kyle Dempsey both added a spark in the second half, just as they had done at Wigan a few days before, with the former twice going close in the last 20 minutes.
“Macca came on and had a couple of chances,” he said. “He probably should have hit the target with one of them. He’s disappointed in there because he didn’t make the keeper work on one of them. He did make the keeper work with another one.
“Demps gave us energy, as we know he always does. By the time Thierry Gale and Ethan Erhahon came on, I thought the game was a bit of a scrap.
“There’s no flow in the game. These are happy when the game goes out for throw-ins. They take all day to throw it in.
“I thought the referee gave some strange decisions, fouls against us, but in the end, it’s four points out of two away games, which we can’t really complain about.”
Stevenage boasted an ever present threat from set pieces, underlining their reputation as one of the most direct and physical sides in the division.
Schumacher had warned his players what type of game they could expect, and events followed the script to the letter.
He said: “The only chances that they created were from set plays and long throws, I don’t think they got too many opportunities in open play.
“We had a couple of moments in open play where we did okay, certainly early on. I felt that we looked dangerous. Sometimes if you can’t win it, don’t lose it.
“The only team that have won here this season is Cardiff, who scored in the 87th minute from a ricochet. It shows you how difficult it is here.
“I think that’s their sixth 0-0 draw at home, so that tells you something.”